AOL gets favorable open access ruling - Excite@Home shares reeling
Thread, so... where are we going with this one? It should provide us with considerable fodder for discussion. Was it a right decision? [smiles]
How will they do it? What kind of spectrum surgery is required, and at what cost to the work being done in the DOCSIS model? Will one provider sharing spectrum on the same cable system with others attempt to do VoIP independent of the others? Will users be able to use their cablemodem/STBs for multiple access arrangements (say, ATHM and AOL, seperately?) What say? Better yet, list some more questions that need answering here, in addition to any answers you can provide.
Regards, Frank Coluccio
==========Bambi Says:
AOL gets favorable open access ruling Excite@Home shares reeling
By Bambi Francisco, CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 4:38 PM ET Jun 4, 1999
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- A federal judge Friday ruled in favor of opening up coveted high-speed cable networks for Internet service providers, sending shares of America Online surging and shares of ExciteAtHome reeling.
Shares of ExciteAtHome dropped 11 1/4, or 11 percent, to 94 while AOL jumped 10 7/8, or 10 percent, to 116 7/8.
U.S. District Court Judge Owen Panner in Portland, Ore. ruled in favor of state officials who want AT&T to open up its cable lines to competing Internet access providers, such as America Online.
AT&T recently bought cable giant Tele-Communications Inc., giving it a controlling stake in Excite@Home.
"The damn is cracking (for AtHome)," said Anthony Stoss, an analyst with Southeast Research Partners, referring to the ruling which only applies to the Portland area. "The stage is set for other Internet service providers to lobby for open access as well."
AT&T had argued that opening up its cable network removed its incentive to invest in expensive upgrades. Analysts had hoped Ma Bell's initiatives to upgrade the cable plants would help accelerate Excite@Home's subscriber base.
But critics, such as America Online, have said AT&T could effectively
hold a monopoly on broadband access with its proprietary cable modem service. The Federal ruling surprised some analysts who thought AOL would partner with cable operators.
"We thought AOL would eventually find its way into the cable territory by signing deals with the cable operators themselves," Stoss said.
Bambi Francisco is the Internet editor for CBS MarketWatch. |
