OR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Lauren Meller
@Home Network
650/569-5181
Molly Lynch
@Home Network
650/569-5555
@Home Network and Videon CableSystems, Inc.
Announce Agreement for Delivering High-Speed Cable
Internet Services in Canada
Four of the Top Five Canadian Cable Operators Now
Affiliated with @Home Network
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 18, 1999 Expanding its
presence in Canada, @Home Network (Nasdaq: ATHM),
the leading provider of high-speed Internet services via
cable infrastructure, and Videon CableSystems, Inc.,
Canada's fifth largest cable operator, today announced an
agreement to deliver high-speed cable Internet services in
key Canadian markets, including Edmonton and Winnipeg.
@Home Network will have access to more than 500,000
homes passed for high-speed cable Internet services. The
service will be named Videon@Home and is planned to
begin deployment in 1999.
"Videon@Home will bring speed, convenience, and
exciting local and national content to our cable customers,"
said Vaughn Tozer, Videon's President of Canadian Cable
Operations. "Cable Internet services allow users to be
more productive with their online time. @Home's
integrated service approach, combined with our local
broadband network will deliver rich Internet experiences to
all members of the family, whether its keeping in touch with
friends and family across Canada or the world, getting help
with homework, keeping up with the latest news, weather
and sports, finding recipes or purchasing gifts online."
@Home Network, Rogers CableSystems and Shaw
Communications created a joint venture called @Home
Canada in 1997 to distribute the @Home service to cable
companies in Canada. Cogeco Cable Inc., Canada's
fourth largest cable company, joined the consortium in
1998 and became an equity partner. Rogers, Shaw, and
Cogeco's cable systems together represent nearly 6
million households passed by cable.
Recognizing Canada's distinct marketplace, @Home
Canada will customize the Videon@Home user
experience to reflect and promote Canada's unique and
cultural and geographic characteristics. In addition to
developing new content for the service, @Home Canada
has formed partnerships with several key Canadian
multimedia providers to offer third party content along with
existing @Home content.
"Cable is clearly the vehicle of choice for delivering a full
range of interactive services to the home," said Dean A.
Gilbert, senior vice president and general manager,
@Home Network. "Through the power of cable,
Videon@Home will help transform the Internet into a viable
mass medium that will be as readily available and
indispensable to the home as the telephone and
television."
Videon is rebuilding its cable television systems to
state-of-art hybrid-fiber coaxial architecture that will support
@Home Network's national broadband backbone. Videon
will utilize @Home's distributed network infrastructure and
unique broadband national content. The alliance will
position Videon customers at the forefront of a new
generation of high-speed communications.
Existing Internet customers now served by Videon's WAVE
service in Manitoba and its Power Surfer service in Alberta
are scheduled to begin conversion to the @Home service
before the end of the third quarter of 1999.
@Home Network is more than a simple connection to the
Internet. @Home has developed a distributed, intelligent
network that utilizes sophisticated caching and replication
technologies to create a high-performance "parallel"
Internet. With this network, @Home will be able to
cost-effectively scale its network capacity to support
ubiquitous broadband services in both metropolitan and
rural markets throughout North America.
Videon CableSystems, Inc.
Videon CableSystems Inc. is a wholly owner subsidiary of
Moffat Communications Limited. Moffat Communications
Limited has substantial interests in cable television
systems in Canada and the United States, namely, Videon
CableSystems Inc. which owns and operates cable
television systems in Winnipeg, and 22 regional
communities in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario;
Videon CableSystems Alberta Inc., which owns and
operates systems in Edmonton and 24 regional
communities in Alberta; Kingwood Cablevision, Inc. near
Houston, Texas; Palm Coast Cablevision, Ltd. in Palm
Coast, Florida, and FSN Cable, Inc. near Tampa, Florida.
The Company also owns 69.7% of WTN, a nationally
distributed specialty television network and CKY-TV, the
CTV Television Network affiliate in Manitoba.
About @Home Network
Based in Redwood City, California, @Home Network
(Nasdaq: ATHM) distributes high-speed, openly
accessible Internet and Web services to residences and
businesses using its own network architecture and a
variety of transport options including the cable industry's
hybrid-fiber coaxial infrastructure. The cable connection
provides users significant increases in speed over
conventional Internet services. Leveraging the "always on"
attributes of cable, @Home allows for unique multimedia
applications that go beyond current Web experiences.
Individuals seeking additional information about availability
and subscription can refer to the @Home Network Web
site (www.home.net). Since its founding in 1995, @Home
Network has reached affiliate agreements with nineteen
leading cable companies-worldwide, including AT&T
Broadband and Internet services, Bresnan
Communications Company, Cablevision Systems Corp.,
CasTel, Century Communications, Charter
Communications, Cogeco Cable Inc., Comcast
Corporation, Cox Communications, Garden State Cable,
Insight Communications, InterMedia Partners, Jones
Intercable, Lenfest Communications, Midcontinent Cable
Co., Palet Kabelcom, Rogers Cablesystems Limited,
Shaw Communications, and Videon CableSystems, Inc.
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