AOL recently announced what they are calling a “modest increase” in the price of their dial-up access fees. While I agree that businesses have the right to charge what they feel their particular market will support, I think AOL is really missing the boat on this one. The $2.00 per month increase doesn’t seem like much and probably will not break the bank of most subscribers. There is a larger issue than money with this price increase. Dial-up customers will pay the same price for AOL internet access as customers who use broadband access.
AOL makes no bones about the fact that it is trying to encourage people to upgrade to faster service so they can better view the bandwidth-intensive content on the AOL site. “The hope is that we’ll be encouraging users to upgrade to broadband because a majority of them will be able to get high-speed connections,” said AOL spokeswoman Anne Bentley.
I invite Ms. Bentley to show me where in rural America a majority of subscribers will be able to get high-speed access. The reality is that the option simply does not exist in a vast majority of rural areas. Most rural subscribers do not have access to DSL as the telephone companies that serve these communities continue to state that lack of population density does not warrant the expense of installing the lines. Cable access is unavailable for the same reason. Satellite access is bringing relief in some areas but it certainly will not provide access at the same price structure. In most cases, such access will cost two to three times higher than the $25.90 AOL is charging for service. If AOL truly wants to encourage increased broadband use among their subscribers, I would suggest they use their considerable influence to persuade telephone companies to provide equal service to all their customers.