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AOL Dumping Some Broadband
unsupported writes "Just days after news that AOL will be breaking up into 4 business units, AOL is telling existing broadband customers in 9 Southern states to find a new carrier. This news comes after AOL stopped selling broadband services earlier this year. AOL plans a similar phase out of existing broadband customers for the rest of the country over the next year."
So AOL got into broadband b/c their dialup business was getting spanked by it... and now they are dropping the broadband and riding the 56k modem wave out? WTF???
Um, AOL is dumping broadband, not dialup.
It's amazing that people would put up with AOL, but time and time again people have shown that no matter how badly they're treated, they'll hang on to bad relationships (including bad business relationships) without thinking of how bad it could really get.
We all generally have the opinion that AOL is "Evil", but if I had to list ONE GOOD THING about them, it would be that even if I am in Antarctica, I could get a dialup provider via AOL. I think that is the reason for a LOT of their original customer base. When people move to broadband, they probably find that AOL isnt the "internet", and simply leave. It lost its appeal, so this is just AOL going back to doing the one thing they are good for.
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
Interesting how they chose to redirect all of their broadband customers to Bellsouth instead of their parent company's broadband provider, Time Warner Cable
With everybody preferring broadband over dial up , it seems suicidal to give up all capability in broadband, split and concentrate more on dial up !! Shouldnt AOL being doing things the other way round and try to build up presence in broadband market ?
Do you claim that cable and DSL don't also have "carrier" and "modulator" waves?
You consider that a fix? Must have been reading too many MS Knowledge Base articles.
Problem: There's a bug in foo.
Solution: Stop using foo.
It would be cool if it didn't suck.
The change is probably that AOL is not in control. Remember, they bought Time-Warner with the idea that they could be the one-stop shop for all your entertainment needs. Wall Street cheered, bigger business is better business, with the ability to make more money! That isn't happening, so AOL is being restructured, getting rid of the stuff that isn't part of Time-Warners plans. Wall Street will cheer: Getting rid of the cruft? They'll make more profits!
they just have an alternate reason to leave!
They've been losing customers because their pricing
is uncompetitive when you take into account package
discounts through other providers when you sign up for
more than just broadband.
The hope is that this will get them back onto the path.
Customers get breaks for carriers for signing up, like
BellSouth for example.
Just wait until the cable companies & RBOCs figure out how
to roll out content rich services without AOL's overhead.. and
give AOL a run for the money. AOL is at risk of losing large
chunks of its subscriber base altogether.
Disclaimer: This is not investment advice, although it ;)...
might very well turn out to be
--
Jesusland. Featuring The Spanish Inquisition. Film at 8.
The Broadband that these people have is ordered via AOL and billed via the broadband provider. The reality is that AOL is telling these folks that they need to establish a direct broadband relationship with Bell South rather than trough AOL. This way the customer brings their own access. It's really better for the user since they won't have to call AOL for broadband connectivity issues. Once the user has Broadband that doesn't requie the use of the AOL client they'll realize that they don't need AOL.
WTF? Who blew it?
Regardless of what people say about the economy, there's a lot of disposable income out there. Surely they could've sold a broadband content service to other people at a bargain, and become the dominant provider like they were for dial-up. Now all that's left is dial-up, fading away...
I guess maybe AOL should get used to finding its home in the lower-middle class bracket... too bad they coulda been a contender elsewhere.
-Rob
Marriage doesn't have to suck!
When some of the old Netscape crowd were laid off by AOL a few years ago AOL HR really could not understand why they were so pissed-off to find an AOL CD with three month's free service in the package provided to them when they were let go.
Intelligence never was a common commodity at AOL.
Dear AOL,
As I stated to your telemarketing rep who called me last week, I have DSL and no need for your "value added" content and/or advertising. Also, let me repeat what I said to her to close the conversation: AOL, aside from SCO, is the laughing stock of the IT industry. Every decision you make is simply stupid.
These comments are a result of my being offended by your "Help us make the internet better" ad campaign, which caters to your notoriously unsavvy user base. Here is how you can accomplish this:
The only sensible thing you have done in the past 5 years is seed the Mozilla Foundation. Somehow you managed not to stifle the entire project.
And all the childless asshole loudmouths can roll it up and cram it.
You mean childfree.