AOL Stops Selling Whole Broadband Plan

America Online Inc. has quietly stopped offering a complete broadband package, requiring subscribers to instead obtain their high-speed Internet connections directly from a cable modem or DSL provider.

The decision to stop selling bundled service -- an AOL-branded cable or DSL connection combined with AOL’s walled garden of content -- follows a strategic realignment that began in December 2002, AOL spokeswoman Anne Bentley said. AOL is a unit of Time Warner Inc.

The change, which took effect late last month, does not affect customers who bought the package before then.