Overview

• AOL will discontinue its dial-up internet service on September 30, 2025, and retire the AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser while leaving free email and other services intact.
• U.S. Census Bureau data shows roughly 163,000–175,000 households still used dial-up in 2023, contrasting with company estimates that only a few thousand subscribers remain.
• Customers who rely on telephone-line connections will need to switch to satellite, cellular or smaller ISPs, which often involve higher costs, data caps and increased latency.
• The phase-out reflects a broader strategy under AOL’s private-equity ownership to retire uneconomic legacy products and reallocate resources to current offerings.
• The announcement has prompted online nostalgia for AOL’s iconic modem tones and early chatrooms, underscoring its cultural imprint during the 1990s internet boom.