AT&T, Excite To Launch Online Service
NEW YORK (Reuters) - AT&T and Internet media company Excite said they will
launch "Excite Online Powered by AT&T WorldNet Service," a new online service that
may rival a similar service run by Yahoo! Inc. and MCI Communications.
Excite Online, set to open in June, will pair AT&T's WorldNet Internet access service
with Redwood City, Calif.- based Excite's search and directory content. The service
will prominently feature Excite's personalized "front-door" to the Internet.
Members of the service, which will be "competitively priced, " will also receive special
online access to AT&T personal communications services, the companies said.
"The powerful combination of AT&T's Internet access service and penetration of the
consumer marketplace, combined with Excite's leading Internet service, provide the
opportunity to build the largest online service for accessing the Internet," George Bell,
president and chief executive of Excite, said in a statement.
In March, Yahoo! and MCI -- industry rivals respectively to AT&T and Excite --
unveiled "Yahoo! Online powered by MCI Internet." Similar online services are in the
works by Internet information programmer CNET, paired with Sprint, and by
Microsoft.
This is the second major Internet deal this week for both AT&T and Excite. On May 5,
Excite and Netscape Communications Corp. agreed to collaborate on Internet content
and search services. And on May 4, AT&T and Lycos set a plan to offer Web- based
consumer communications services and to sell AT&T offerings via Lycos' Web site. |
