E-mails were sent Tuesday night to AOL customers who subscribe to the company's high-speed DSL service notifying them that it was being shut off July 8.
AOL DSL costs $54.95 per month for the high-speed line and access to AOL services, the company says.
Its e-mail recommended that customers call SBC and take advantage of a $14.95 month deal being offered for DSL if they want to continue high-speed access to the Web.
But that offer is only available at www.sbc.com and only to new SBC DSL customers, SBC officials said.
AOL officials said they made the move because their DSL service had become too expensive for customers and the company.
"Now, we're offering our customers a better deal, by asking them to migrate to the unbundled, lower-cost SBC DSL Internet access, and to keep their AOL service," Anne Bentley, vice president of AOL's corporate communications wrote in an e-mail to The Bee.
"This process will reduce customers' total charges for Internet access, allowing them to maintain their high-speed Internet connection directly through SBC, while still retaining the AOL content and features that add to and enhance their high-speed Internet connection."
DSL is a way to access the Internet through traditional phone lines at speeds 50 times faster than a dial-up modem.
Modesto resident Glenn Mount said the e-mail solved a problem for him. He subscribed to Comcast's high-speed cable Internet services last month. He also kept his AOL DSL so he could compare the two services before deciding which one to stick with.
"I've been thinking about dumping AOL for a while now because it's so expensive," Mount said. "When I got the e-mail, I figured my problem was just solved for me."
The e-mails say:
"As of July 8, 2005, America Online will no longer provide your high-speed DSL connection as part of a bundled offer that was previously available. If you do not contact America Online by July 8, 2005, you will automatically be switched to your previous AOL® price plan, which allowed you to enjoy the AOL service through dial-up access, as designated in your AOL® for Broadband Terms of Service."
AOL recently shut down its DSL services in the Southwest, said Vanessa Smith, spokeswoman for SBC. She said the transition of customers from AOL to her company's DSL service was "smooth."
Competition has become fierce
Competition for high-speed Internet access has become fierce in the past year. Besides phone and cable companies, other firms are entering the market.
For example, this week Clearwire started offering high-speed Internet access in Modesto for less than $40 a month.
The competition has taken its toll on AOL. Already, U.S. subscription for AOL has decreased by about 5 million since its peak of 26.7 million in September 2002.
In the first quarter, AOL posted a 3 percent decline in revenues as it continued to lose subscribers, more than offsetting a 45 percent gain in advertising revenues. Profits rose 10 percent despite the revenue loss because of a decline in telecommunications costs.
The company has taken steps in an effort to win customers back, or at least figure out a way to direct advertising to them.
AOL has launched free Web-based e-mail, offering its instant-messaging users accounts with "AIM.com" address. Now, AOL is offering to forward e-mail from abandoned AOL.com accounts to AIM.
There is no time limit, and savvy users can still set their e-mail programs with the old AOL.com addresses without paying for them.
The company also announced it will launch a new AOL.com portal in July.
That free service will allow visitors to download video clips from AOL, Time Warner Inc. sister companies or elsewhere on the Web.
AOL also is pushing an "AOL Music On Demand" video channel and is developing an "American Idol"-like Web contest carrying as its prize a recording contract.
On-demand channels featuring comedy, celebrity news and self-help are also in the works. AOL visitors also will have access to 20 radio channels through XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.
Users will be able to create a personalized "My AOL" home page with news headlines, Web journal summaries and other automated feeds from AOL.
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