Microsoft MSN lowers Internet dial-up price

March 28, 2006

AOL recently announced a price hike in their dial-up Internet service. Microsoft is responding with a new price promotion for their MSN Dial-Up Internet access service aimed at AOL users that don't want to pay AOL's high dial-up costs..

According to Microsoft's represenative, "With the current competitive landscape for dial-up Internet access and the longstanding competitive history in this market, we thought you’d want to know that Microsoft is now offering MSN Dial-Up for -- a reduction in the monthly service fee from $21.95 to $17.95 with no long term contract required and first month of service is free.  The reduced pricing is good for the first year."

They added, "As longstanding AOL dial-up subscribers begin exploring alternatives to a monthly price increase, Microsoft believes that this new competitive offer will give consumers an incentive to switch to MSN Dial-Up for their dial-up provider."

My question is when does dial-up Internet access in the U.S. become a loss-leader? That is to say, when does providing and maintaining the analog modem infrastructure start to become a non-profitable? Sure there are still millions of dial-up users, but they are jumping ship to high-speed broadband faster than the time it takes for a new American Idol episode to reach the Bittorrent network. Dial-up is dead... or soon will be, at least in the U.S.

I still remember my 300 baud analog model. RIP Dial-Up..Rest in peace...



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Comments to Microsoft MSN lowers Internet dial-up price


  1. Andrew :
    March 28, 2006 2:39 PM

    Wow, our largest dialup in Canada is http://www.295.ca/ and yup, you guessed it, unlimited dialup for $2.95 and that is CDN dollarssmile Who in there right mind would pay 20.00 a month for dialup?


  1. Benjamin Riley :
    March 29, 2006 9:18 AM

    I dont' really think that dial-up is dead or soon will be in the US. I say this because I am still using dial-up at home, ONLY because I live in south Mississippi about a mile from a highway, but 15 miles in one direction and 30 miles in the other from the nearest highspeed hookup. I have a fracT1 at work (which is right down the road from my house) but we are 70,000 feet from the local C.O. and they had to use about 20 repeaters to get the signal out here, two of which our office is backfeeding power to. On top of all this, it costs us right at $300 a month for 512k plus we had to sign a 3 year agreement to get eight lines of phone service too (BellSouth) which brings the total to a little over $1,000 a month! For me, and millions of other American's, there is no other alternative simply because of proximity (other than sattelite, which isn't really an option). No, I think dial-up is here to stay for quite sometime, at least until the government takes it upon themselves to fund the effort to supply last-mile high speed technology.


  1. John Caruso :
    March 29, 2006 9:53 AM

    Why not cable broadband? You can get it for $30-$40.

    sure there are some that can't afford to pay that much, but I also find that lower income families also tend to be the ones to splurge on large LCD TVs, trip out their car stereo with hundreds of dollats, etc. Will there is a will, there is a way.

    Just about anybody can tighten their belts a little tighter to afford broadband. It's only a question of whether you can get it.

    80% of the U.S. has either DSL or cable or both available.

    Teenagers won't put up with dial-up. They'll beg and plead with their parents or even pay for it with their own money. They want a good online experience and the ability to download music, movies, etc. They don't want to be ridiculed by their friends for having lowly dial-up.

    The only people I see staying on dial-up are the >45 year old people. In fact, my dad is on dial-up. But he only does stock trading and email, so he doesn't need high-speed.

    but I agree with Tom, dial-up is on it's way out.


  1. vincent :
    May 6, 2006 9:03 PM

    dudes is the USA so lame with dial up :s
    in belgium whe have cable and dial up
    both are broad band
    going up to 20MB speed and still going up

    whe even have HD tv with broadband cable and dial up
    both excellent quality and still improving
    and if u don't beleave me

    http://www.telenet.be (btw an american company is a stakeholder)
    http://www.skynet.be (from belgacom, ex-gov. company)

    guess u won't understand a word on the sites buth yeahsmile

    +50% american population doesn't know his own states and the other countries in the world :p
    and yes it's has been prooved
    feel so srry for u guysbig grin


  1. Tom Keating[TypeKey Profile Page] :
    May 8, 2006 8:48 AM

    Vincent,
    The U.S. has DSL and cable broadband. I don't know the exact penetration numbers for broadband, but I believe it is over 60%.

    >>+50% american population doesn't know his own states and the other countries in the world :p
    and yes it's has been prooved
    feel so srry for u guys

    Ah yes, knock the Americans. It's fun to kick around Americans. But before you make fun of American kids geography skills you might want to run a grammar and spell check on your comment postings. I count at least 6 typos, spelling errors, and grammar issues.

    >>feel so srry for u guys
    Don't be sorry. America is still the leading technological innovator in the world. We have Silicon Valley and the top computer hardware and software inventor corporations, so don't be sorry. We're doing just fine.


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