AOL Tells Customers to Find New Carrier

Is AOL on the way out? I hope not, because I will surely miss those coffee cup coasters of theirs.



America Online, which earlier this year stopped signing up new broadband customers, is telling existing broadband subscribers in nine Southern states that they must find a new broadband carrier by Jan. 17. The affected states are Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.



Those customers who do not switch to a new broadband carrier by that date will have their accounts revert to AOL's traditional dialup service.



AOL has been telling its customers that they can switch to high-speed broadband service offered by BellSouth Corp. for a special promotional rate.



AOL's $54 monthly broadband service is relatively expensive and they expect to phase out existing broadband customers in the rest of the country in a similar manner over the next year.