Consumers and corporations are spending less money, and companies in many sectors are slashing prices to boost sales and unwind inventories. In fact, they are raising prices for their services.
Some companies figure they now can trade higher penetration for higher prices.
Sounds good for Wall Street, but not so much for consumers, who will have to foot higher bills at the end of the month. AOL, the world's largest ISP with roughly 30 million subscribers, is a good example of this trend. AOL had not raised the price of its unlimited-access service since April 1998. AOL is not alone in hiking prices. These paid versions eliminate ad banners, which serve as revenue to support those companies' free-access service plans.