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Forget 4G, AOL still tricks millions of subscribers into keeping their dial-up subscription

Published Aug 7th, 2014 7:15AM EDT

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While more and more carriers and Internet service providers are looking at ways of increasing data speeds, some people are still stuck on dial-up service, or at least they’re paying for it even though they might not really need it. AOL has no less than 2.34 million dial-up subscribers left, Re/code reports, who pay just over $20 per month for dial-up Internet access, even though many of them may already get their Internet fix from somewhere else.

FROM EARLIER: AOL’s dialup business might finally, finally die in 5 years

The number of subscribers has dropped significantly from 2011, when AOL had 3.62 million subscribers paying $18 a month for the service, but the company still has a huge chunk of customers, which it charges an average of $20.86 per month right now.

The company managed to beat Wall Street’s Q2 revenue and profit numbers, with a large lump of its money coming from these faithful dial-up subscribers who don’t mind paying $20 a month for a service they might not even be using anymore.

“Tim Armstrong’s company says its subscription business generated $143 million in “Adjusted OIBDA” – its proxy for operating income — last quarter,” Re/code writes. “That’s more than the $121 million in Adjusted OIBDA that the entire company generated.”

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.