Readers have informed us that AOL UK (Carphone Warehouse) intends to pull the plug on its 'AOL Hometown' service. Hometown provides customers with personal FTP accessible community web space for use in the creation of small websites, among other things.

Effective October 31st 2008, all the files in AOL Hometown/FTP space will be deleted and will no longer be available for download for all AOL members. Customers are being urged to save their content immediately and find an alternative. The following explanation has been offered:


Naturally AOL has apologised for the move, which will affect customers around the world and not just at its UK division. The provider is also keen to stress that no other services will be impacted, only Hometown users.

The move has come as quite a shock to many customers, both in the UK and abroad. They have also been frustrated by the lack of warning, with just a single months notice being given:


Customers on AOL UK's message boards have shared in David's surprise at the move. Many have become accustomed to AOLs easy management system and could experience difficulty when moving to a new ISP or dedicated web hosting provider.

The sudden removal will also prevent customers from setting up a permanent redirect to any new web space they may adopt, which could result in a significant loss of visitors. Those seeking a dedicate website host as a replacement should check out our sister site - Host-Review.co.uk for a list of alternatives.

Unfortunately the prevalence of free alternatives and attractiveness of potential cost savings have caused other large UK ISPs to drop free extras, such as web space and sometimes even email, from their package features list. It is becoming a sad but increasingly common practice to do this although there is at least plenty of choice around.