In addition to announcing that earnings would beat estimates by at least 8 - 10 cents yesterday, here's another wrinkly that didn't get much attention...
AOL Wants In On AT&T/TCI Broadband - Update
June 25, 1998 02:30 AM PDT
****AOL Wants In On AT&T/TCI Broadband - Update 06/24/98 DULLES, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1998 JUN 24 (NB) -- By Bob Woods, Newsbytes. (Note - resending for correction of the sale value.) America Online [NYSE:AOL] Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Steve Case wasted no time Wednesday morning in jumping on news that AT&T Corp. [NYSE:T] will buy Tele-Communications Inc. [NASDAQ:TCOMA] (TCI), in a deal valued at $48 billion.
Case said, "We look forward to entering into a broadband reseller agreement with AT&T once the merger with TCI is complete."
AOL is "encouraged" that the AT&T/TCI announcement made Wednesday mentioned that broadband infrastructure should be "open and sold through multiple providers, including companies like AOL," Case said.
"So, we're confident that under AT&T's ownership, TCI's cable infrastructure will be opened up so we and others can purchase broadband connectivity wholesale and make it available to our online customers," Case also said.
"... we look forward to entering similar agreements with other cable companies as they too embrace a truly 'open cable' approach," Case added.
Earlier this morning, AT&T said it would buy TCI for $31.8 billion in stock, $11 billion in debt and $5.5 billion for shares of At Home Corp., in which TCI owns 39 percent.
The deal, one of the largest of its kind in the US, will see AT&T folding in its existing consumer long distance, wireless, and Internet services operations with TCI's cable, telecommunications, and high speed Internet businesses to create a new subsidiary, called AT&T Consumer Services.
AOL is no stranger to the world of broadband data delivery: The company's first cable TV delivery trial got underway in December, 1994, with Viacom Cable in Castro Valley, California. The online giant also participated with Time Warner Cable in an online access test in Elmira, New York (Newsbytes, Jul. 18, 1995).
AOL has said on several occasions that it is sold on broadband delivery.
AOL shares were up $0.625 or 0.59 percent at $106.875, and were heavily traded as of early Wednesday afternoon.
Reported By Newsbytes News Network: newsbytes.com .
12:24 CST
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