AT&T Pledges To Share Lines for Web
WASHINGTON, Dec 06, 1999 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- AT&T is pledging
that its customers will eventually have a choice in the Internet
providers using the company's recently acquired high-speed cable lines.
In a move that could help quell fears about the telecommunications
giant gaining too much control over what information reaches consumers'
homes, AT&T plans to allow rival Internet companies access to its cable
pipes.
The company was expected to send a letter to regulators today, laying
out how it eventually will let competitors share its high-speed
connections, according to sources close to the discussions. That letter
to the Federal Communications Commission spells out the framework AT&T
will use in negotiating future contracts with rival Internet providers,
said the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Among those signing on to the terms outlined in the letter is the
nation's No. 2 Internet service provider, MindSpring Enterprises, Inc.
Although the letter does not amount to a contractual agreement, it sets
the stage for AT&T to reach a deal with MindSpring and other Internet
companies.
AT&T officials have said in the past they would consider agreements
with other companies once their exclusivity contract with Internet
provider ExciteAtHome expires in June 2002.
The letter is aimed at shoring up that commitment, although any deals
still could not take effect until the 2002 contract is up, the sources
said. The nonbinding agreement does lay out AT&T's pledge to charge
Internet providers reasonably comparable prices and set similar
conditions for their deals.
The nation's top Internet service provider, America Online, was not a
party to the discussions.
AT&T's promise comes amid growing debate on the national and local
level about whether the company should be forced to share its newly
acquired high-speed cable lines with rivals. Broadband access over
cable lines provides connection speeds dozens of times faster than
today's dial-up telephone modems.
AT&T has positioned itself to become a major player in the broadband
market through its purchase of cable company Tele-Communications Inc.
last summer and its proposed merger with MediaOne.
But AT&T's exclusive arrangement with Internet provider ExciteAtHome
has drawn the ire of other companies such as America Online that now
reach consumers through the slow dial-up phone connections. They want
to deliver their service over AT&T's cable lines into customers' homes.
Consumer groups also have called for AT&T to share its lines with
rivals, fearing that the company will otherwise exert too much
influence over the diversity of information reaching the public.
Consumer advocates said Sunday that AT&T's action is a move in the
right direction and an open acknowledgment that it is possible for
multiple Internet providers to share the same cable pipe. But they said
AT&T's pledge falls far short of ensuring nondiscriminatory access for
all Internet providers.
''It does not fulfill our concerns about designing an Internet that
will promote growth and protect against content manipulation,'' said
Andrew Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project.
Others expressed concern that such agreements were leaving too much to
be worked out in the hands of the private sector.
''They moved an inch when they have to move a mile,'' said Jeff
Chester, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Media
Education. ''This is too important to leave to private parties behind
closed doors.''
So far, the FCC has declined to force cable companies to share their
high-speed lines with Internet competitors, saying it is too early for
government regulation in the nascent market.
But the commission's hands-off policy has not deterred some local
leaders from taking matters into their own hands and ordering AT&T to
open its lines.
Copyright 1999 Associated Press, All rights reserved.
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By KALPANA SRINIVASAN
APO Priority=r
APO Category=1700
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