AT&T to open cable lines? Wouldn't this speed things up?
From Westergaard:
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Westergaard Broadcasting Network.com
Sunday, December 5th
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BREAKING NEWS!!!
Sunday, 3:07 AM ET
Hey, all you (us, we) Internet junkies out there!!! I picked this up
from today's (Sunday) Washington Post a few minutes ago. Very
Important!!! It's carried as the lead front page story. Author is Staff
Writer Peter S. Goodman:
THE WASHINGTON POST, Sunday, December 5th: "AT&T Corp.
has formally agreed to eventually allow rival Internet services to
use its cable lines to provide high-speed computer connections.
"AT&T's new policy is aimed at defusing a high-stakes
controversy over who controls access to the next generation of
the Internet, or 'broadband.' Ever since it purchased Tele-
Communications Inc., the nation's largest collection of cable
systems, and declared it would honor an agreement
requiring that its customers buy high-speed Internet access from
its exclusive provider, the company has been under fire in the
courts and in several municipalities.
"But AT&T has now struck an agreement in principle with
MindSpring Enterprises Inc., the nation's second-largest Internet
service provider, formally committing itself to a new 'open access'
policy, sources said. The two companies plan to send a letter on
Monday detailing the agreement to Federal Communications
Commission Chairman William E. Kennard. AT&T plans to
highlight the new policy at a meeting the same day with hundreds
of Wall Street analysts, the sources said.
There's more. "Though the letter does not amount to a binding
business contract, it proclaims agreement on the principles of
open access that should prevail in contracts to come. A cable
industry official said the deal was aimed at dissuading regulators
from wading into the issue, while pressuring AOL to 'come
negotiate. Get your own deal. Don't go crying to the government.'
"'It sends the message that the industry can work this issue out,'
another source said. 'We don't need the regulators getting
involved.'"
And more: "One of the most fervent proponents of open access is
AOL. As AT&T portrays it, AOL is motivated not by principle, but
by basic economics: It wants a free ride to customers on AT&T's
cable systems. The two companies have long discussed an
arrangement that would allow AOL to sell its service over AT&T's
wires but have stalled on two key matters: price, and who
controls the relationship with the customer, sources said."
GO Washington Post Online for more.
WESTERGAARD: Hey, wow, leapin' butterballs!!! Good news for
everybody. Amazing, amazing!!!
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