AOL announced that it will discontinue its dial-up internet service next month, marking the end of a 34-year offering that is synonymous with the early days of the internet.
The service, and its associated software, will be discontinued on Sept. 30, the company said.
A statement on AOL’s website on Friday said: “AOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to discontinue Dial-up internet.”
AOL, which is owned by Yahoo, did not release information about how many people still use its dial-up service.
The service started in 1991, as home computers were becoming popular. AOL’s dial-up tone, sometimes followed by the “You’ve got mail!” announcement, became the soundtrack for many Americans as they were learning how to navigate the internet.
In 2019, according to the U.S. census, an estimated 265,000 people in the United States were using only dial-up internet. That was about two percent of the number of people surveyed on their household internet subscriptions.
Yan Zhuang is a Times reporter in Seoul who covers breaking news.
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