EarthLink to sell high-speed Internet access
with MCI WorldCom
By Aimee Picchi
BLOOMBERG NEWS
EarthLink Network Inc., the No. 4 U.S. Internet service, will sell high-speed
Internet service using MCI WorldCom Inc.'s phone network, making it the first
Internet provider to offer the service nationwide.
EarthLink's high-speed Internet access service, which uses so-called digital
subscriber lines, or DSL, will be tested in the fall. It plans to offer DSL service,
which it expects will cost $40 to $60 a month, in major cities by the end of the
year.
EarthLink's plan for national DSL service puts it ahead of rivals such as
America Online Inc. and MindSpring Enterprises Inc., which currently have
alliances with phone companies to offer the service in just a few regions of the
U.S. EarthLink is betting that DSL service will be more popular than
competing high-speed Internet service that runs over cable-television lines,
such as that sold by Excite At Home Corp.
"Logic would say that of course they will sign up tons of subscribers, but we
don't really know the demand for DSL," said Youssef Squali, an analyst at
Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., who rates EarthLink a "buy."
DSL subscribers should increase to more than 4 million by 2003 from 25,000
in 1998, according to estimates from the Yankee Group, a technology
research company.
America Online, the No. 1 online service provider, has paired with Bell
Atlantic Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. to offer DSL in some states.
EarthLink fell 1 3/4 to 63 5/8 in midmorning trading. |
