AT&T Works to Restore Internet Access
Monday, December 3, 2001
Last updated at 7:01:39 AM PT
By COLLEEN VALLES
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SAN FRANCISCO -- About 15 percent of
customers on ExciteAtHome's high-speed Internet
service were without access, after the bankrupt
company cut off service to AT&T Broadband
subscribers.
However, ExciteAtHome reportedly had reached a tentative deal with a dozen other cable
operators to keep their service up and running.
AT&T said Monday it had restored service to more than a third of its customers - about 330,000
of its 850,000 subscribers - and moved them to its own network. AT&T transferred most of its
customers in the Northwest Saturday and moved customers in Texas Sunday. The company is
working to move the rest, in Chicago; Pittsburgh; Hartford, Conn., and cities in the West, and
said the balance should be moved "in the next few days."
Deanna Bruggemann, an AT&T Broadband customer who lives in Livermore, about 45 miles
southeast of San Francisco, has been without Internet access since 12:01 a.m. Saturday. She said
she appreciated the call from AT&T telling her what was happening with her service.
"That kind of made me feel better, because the first thing you think is your computer crashed,"
she said. "It's really going to put a damper on Christmas because I do a lot of Internet shopping."
Bruggemann, an insurance agent, said the computers in her office have DSL, so they're not
affected.
"I miss my Internet," she said. "When you're so used to not having dial-up, the thought of
having to go back - no way! They better figure out something."
Denver-based phone company Qwest Communications said Sunday it could quickly transfer
AT&T Broadband customers dropped by the high-speed service and give them $300 in free
services. The company said it expected to hook up customers within 10 to 15 days and has added
staff to handle calls.
AT&T Broadband spokeswoman Sarah Eder dismissed the offer as a marketing ploy.
"Even in times when we have a network problem, we can still get customers up and running
faster than Qwest," she said.
Service to other cable companies that sold Internet access through ExciteAtHome's network,
including Cox Communications and Rogers, had not been cut off. ExciteAtHome has more than 4
million subscribers.
The remaining companies are negotiating with ExciteAtHome to keep their service going.
The Washington Post reported Monday that a tentative deal between ExciteAtHome and the other
companies had been reached, and was expected to be formalized Monday.
The companies had signed a letter of intent with the high-speed Internet provider to keep the
service going in exchange for the next three months in exchange for more than $300 million, the
Post said, citing a source close to the negotiations.
Other than AT&T Broadband, no other cable company had reported a loss of its At Home Internet
service. Susan Leepson of Cox said all the company's customers had service Sunday.
John Tory, president and chief executive of Rogers Communications, said the company's
425,000 customers using ExciteAtHome had not lost service. He said negotiations were
continuing, and the company has a backup plan to move its customers to another service in a
matter of hours if the network does go down.
A message on Comcast's consumer hot line said Sunday that the company had not lost service.
Calls to ExciteAtHome were not immediately returned Sunday.
Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Carlson gave Redwood City-based ExciteAtHome permission to
cancel existing contracts with cable companies after concluding they had become "clearly
burdensome" to the company. ExciteAtHome executives said they were costing the company up
to $6 million per week.
ExciteAtHome wanted the cable companies to pay substantially higher fees to connect to its
network. Until ExciteAtHome's bankruptcy, the cable companies had been paying a monthly fee
of $12 per subscriber.
By forcing the cable companies to pay more to use the high-speed Internet service, ExciteAtHome
and its bondholders hope to prove the network is worth substantially more than the $307 million
AT&T has bid for it.
In its statement, ExciteAtHome said it was still negotiating continued service with its other cable
company customers, but ended service to AT&T "after determining that it would not be able to
reach agreement." |
