Steve et all, T has to spend the money or lose part of their control over ATHM.
news.com
Last month, TCI said that only 26 percent of its cable infrastructure had been upgraded to support two-way transmissions--a prerequisite for cable telephony and high-speed cable Net access. That lags well behind others in the industry.
As a part of the new agreement with its partners in @Home, AT&T has "agreed to increase its subscriber acquisition goal for the next 12 months above its current goal for that period," according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
AT&T has said it will pour close to $4 billion into network upgrades over the next two years to offer local telephony, high-speed Internet access, and other advanced digital services.
If the company cannot achieve its higher subscriber goals by next year, AT&T must give Cox a certain amount of stock in @Home, based on its subscriber numbers at the time, a Cox spokeswoman said.
But the other cable partners are only interested in having AT&T pull its own weight, she added.
"We want this to be viewed as an incentive. We really want AT&T to get out there in front of some customers," said Cox spokeswoman Ellen East. "We don't want that stock because if AT&T adds more customers it only increases the value of [@Home]."
They are gonna spend 4 billion over 2 years! A lot of that is coming our way,maybe 20%. That would be 800 million over 2 years! Lets hope is comes our way,its gonna open up the flood gates,and Tony Ley is gonna be riding the surfboard all the way to Monterrey Pier.
Tim |
