The company said it was taking the step because only a "tiny number" of its customers still went online using a dial-up modem. It added that the vast majority of its 6.8 million broadband customers had switched to much faster connections. However, a small number of people in rural areas where broadband will not work will struggle to get online after the change.
Dial-up customers were first informed about the impending closure in May and June this year, BT said, adding that most of these people would be able to migrate to a broadband service. The company said that the shut-down meant about 1,000 people who lived in remote areas would not be able to move to broadband as their phone line was incapable of supporting the technology. These people were likely to be living in some of the most remote parts of the UK, said Oliver Johnson, chief executive of broadband consultancy Point Topic.
"They will be too far from the telephone exchange to get any meaningful broadband. The distance means that the broadband signal degrades," he said. Those who had to stick with dial-up would still be able to get such services from BT via its Plusnet subsidiary. "No-one is being left without the option of an alternative service," said a BT spokesman.
Sebastian Lahtinen, from the Think Broadband news site, said the closure was a sign of the times. "It's a statement of how mainstream broadband services have become, with entry-level broadband being cheaper than the dial-up plans BT is closing down," he said.
Source: BBC News
