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Technology Stocks : America On-Line (AOL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Vendit™ who wrote (22103)	6/14/1999 4:51:00 PM
From: Mick Mørmøny	Respond to of 41369

Cable ISP choice possible GTE, AOL lobby to offer competition to cable Internet service providers June 14, 1999: 4:02 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Aiming to force cable television operators to allow competition among Internet service providers over their systems, GTE Corp. and America Online Inc. said tests on a local GTE cable system proved the feasibility of opening such networks. GTE (GTE), a leading U.S. telecom and cable TV company, said a test on its cable system in Clearwater, Fla., had shown such systems can be operated on an "open access" basis. Such open access would allow customers to select from an Internet service providers (ISP) of their choice -- rather than being forced to sign on with the cable network's exclusive provider. AOL (AOL), the world's largest Internet service provider, and its rivals have waged a lobbying campaign with federal and state regulators to force cable operators to offer competitive rates to companies that are seeking to provide high-speed Internet access, or "broadband" services. The Clearwater test appears geared to embarrass U.S. cable operators including AT&T Corp. (T) and Time Warner Inc. (TWX), which have been reluctant to open their networks to rival service providers on wholesale terms as phone operators have done. Time Warner is the parent company of CNNfn and CNNfn.com. Instead, the cable operators have cut exclusive contracts with high-speed Internet service companies @Home Corp. (ATHM) and RoadRunner, in which the cable companies hold substantial ownership interests. GTE and AOL are working to deliver high-speed Internet access services over both standard phone lines and cable systems. Over the past two months, the Clearwater project has tested cable delivery of Internet services from AOL, the CompuServe unit of AOL and GTE's own Internet service, GTE.net, they said. While primarily a local phone company with a large Internet service businesses, GTE also owns cable systems in Florida and California. Stamford, Conn.-based GTE has agreed to be acquired by U.S. local phone giant Bell Atlantic Corp. (BEL). Working with several different equipment vendors and "off-the-shelf" systems, GTE said it made changes to the company's cable network backbone to allow competing Internet service providers to have direct access to their customers. America Online stock was down 8 to 91-1/2 in composite U.S. stock market trading late Monday, amid an ongoing sell-off in Internet stocks that has cut the value of AOL stock in half in recent months. Prominent among investors concerns has been AOL's failure to strike broadband Internet deals with major U.S. cable operators, potentially threatening its vast consumer Internet franchise in the emerging high-speed Internet age. cnnfn.com