<A> AT&T Expected -2-: May Join Up With Cable In Broad Alliances
There has been recent speculation that AT&T would make a direct investment in one of the big cable TV concerns, such as TCI, along the lines of Microsoft Corp.'s recent $1 billion investment in Comcast. But so far that hasn't panned out.
A likelier outcome is that AT&T joins up with cable carriers in broad, strategic alliances. One possibility might be the At Home Corp. service, a strategic Internet alliance backed by TCI, Comcast and Cox. Another possibility is Time Warner Inc.'s rival RoadRunner service, which includes other cable partners.
Some industry observers say collaborations between long-distance carriers and the nation's cable TV companies are a natural, given the inherent synergies between the two. AT&T has the network know-how and marketing savvy that cable operators covet, while cable-TV companies have the direct links, via their coaxial cable networks, into millions of homes and businesses that AT&T sorely needs.
It hasn't hurt that neither views the other as much of a competitive threat. Unlike its Baby Bell offspring, AT&T has never expressed an interest in going into the video business. Cable operators, likewise, have dabbled in offering telecommunications services to business customers, but never have been very interested in going after the consumer long-distance market, AT&T's bread-and-butter. |
