It’s the end of an era as AOL has finally retired its dial-up internet service.
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While wireless internet providers T-Mobile (TMUS), Verizon (VZ), and AT&T (T) push their latest 5G networks, AOL, previously known as America Online, has finally pulled the plug on its original dial-up service that required people to use a telephone landline and modem to access the internet.
AOL has now removed advertisements for dial-up internet service from its website, bringing an end to the way all households accessed the World Wide Web in the 1990s and early 2000s. Until now, AOL had continued to offer dial-up internet service in rural and remote areas where high-speed fiber optic internet is not yet available.
‘The Creaky Door’
Dial-up internet was often referred to as “stone-age technology” and the “creaky door to the internet” by analysts owing to its slow speeds and pixelated views. However, AOL isn’t the only company to hold onto the technology despite greater advances in telecommunications.
Microsoft (MSFT) retired video calling service Skype earlier this year and only discontinued its original Internet Explorer browser in 2022. Dial-up internet was characterized by the unique sounds of beeps and buzzes heard over phone lines as computers connected to the internet.
People have taken to social media to share fond memories of dial-up internet and reminisce about an era when people couldn’t browse the internet and make a telephone call at the same time.
Is TMUS Stock a Buy?
The stock of T-Mobile has a consensus Moderate Buy rating among 19 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 11 Buy, seven Hold, and one Sell recommendations issued in the last three months. The average TMUS price target of $273.87 implies 18.68% upside from current levels.
