Millions Still Use AOL Dial-Up

(RTTNews) - Web services company AOL, Inc. (AOL) said that 2.1 million people in the U.S. continue to use AOL dial-up to connect to the Internet. The figure was provided by AOL while reporting its quarterly earnings results on Friday.

The figure of 2.1 million comes as a surprise, given that 70 percent of Americans connect to the Internet over the much faster broadband. The Federal Communications Commission or FCC, in January 2015, updated its broadband benchmark speeds to 25 megabits per second or Mbps for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads.

The average U.S. broadband speed is 11.4 Mbps, 200 times faster than AOL dial-up's 56 kilobits per second or Kbps. But what is more shocking is that the average AOL dial-up customer is paying $20 a month for accessing the Internet, up more than $1 from last year.

AOL said its domestic subscribers include subscribers participating in introductory free-trial periods, and subscribers that are paying no monthly fees or reduced monthly fees through member service and retention programs.

However, AOL did not provide any reasons for the customers continuing to use dial-up Internet, despite it being very slow, compared to broadband.

According to the Pew Research Center in 2009, it had asked adults who had dial-up Internet at home what it would take for them to switch to a broadband connection. 35 percent of the respondents said the price would have to fall, while 17 percent said it would have to become available where they live, and 20 percent said nothing would get them to change.

The 2015 Broadband Progress Report adopted by the FCC says that 55 million Americans, or 17 percent of the population, still lack access to advanced broadband. Over half of all rural Americans lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps service.