A laptop and the AOL logo.

By Chris Spiker From Daily Voice

AOL will shut down its once-iconic dial-up internet service after nearly 35 years of helping millions of Americans get online.

The company quietly announced it will discontinue dial-up internet on Tuesday, Sept. 30. AOL will also end its AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser, which were designed for older systems and slow-speed connections. 

The change will not affect other features in customers' AOL plans.

"AOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to discontinue dial-up internet," the company said. "This service will no longer be available in AOL plans.

AOL launched the service in 1991, at a time when home computers were just starting to become common. Defining sounds for early internet users were the distinctive dial-up tone, followed by a voice saying "Welcome!" and "You've got mail!"

Several promotional CDs for America Online from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Several promotional CDs for America Online from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Wikimedia Commons - Jeran Renz

In its prime, America Online was famous for mailing free trial discs that seemed to be everywhere in the 1990s. By 2019, however, only 265,331 Americans still used dial-up internet, according to the US Census Bureau.

America Online simplified its name to AOL in 2006. Verizon later sold AOL and Yahoo to private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $5 billion in 2021, NBC News reported.

Customers with questions can visit MyAccount to manage or cancel their plans, or call 1-888-265-5555 in the US.