Provider Archive

Over the 20 years that our company has been writing about internet service, dozens of internet providers have disappeared. Some have been bought by rivals looking to expand their footprint. Others have merged to gain a combined advantage. Some have simply re-branded after major service changes. Still others have simply closed up shop.

For example, if you were an Adelphia internet customer in 2005, your account may have been sold to either Comcast or Time Warner Cable who split up the former Adelphia service area in 2006. Time Warner Cable became part of Charter Communications in 2016 so you might now be a Spectrum Internet customer. If you were a Wildblue Satellite Internet customer in 2008, you would have become an Exede customer after 2009 and a Viasat customer starting in 2018. Sprint DSL customers prior to 2005 became Embarq customers who became CenturyLink customers in 2009. If you were a customer of Clearwire you became a Sprint wireless customer in 2013 and a T-Mobile customer in 2020. You get the idea.

If the 1980s were marked by the breakup of large corporations, the 2000s have seen a trend towards consolidation. The rapid pace of technological progress over the past two decades has likely made this consolidation necessary, as massive upgrades to infrastructure have been essential to keep up with advancements in both wired and wireless technologies. Fortunately for consumers, these changes have generally improved the landscape. Today, internet services are quicker than ever, and surprisingly, prices haven't increased significantly over the past decade.

For those who miss the old days, check out our internet provider archive: