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To: Uncle Frank who wrote (3325)	7/1/1999 4:00:00 PM
From: Teflon	Respond to of 54805

Uncle Frank, I thought this was your handy work!!! ExciteAtHome's launches GUERRILLA marketing Rally planned ahead of cable-access vote in S.F. By Brenon Daly, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 2:36 PM ET Jul 1, 1999 SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- In the open-cable-access war, ExciteAtHome is staging a bit of guerrilla marketing. The company is planning a protest Thursday afternoon in San Francisco to influence the city's Board of Supervisors to keep America Online (AOL: news, msgs) and other Net-access companies off the cable lines controlled by ExciteAtHome's ally, AT&T. The rally comes one month after an unfavorable ruling from a federal judge. At issue is whether AT&T must open its cable lines -- which allow lightning-fast transmission of flashy video and data -- to Internet service providers (ISPs). Open access The decision is significant to ExciteAtHome (ATHM: news, msgs) because AT&T (T: news, msgs) currently offers ExciteAtHome's high-speed Internet service over its cable. AT&T owns about 39 percent of ExciteAtHome. If Ma Bell has to open those cable lines to other ISPs, then subscriber growth at ExciteAtHome could slow as Web surfers use other services to get online. "Consumers should be able to choose their ISP in broadband, just as they have in narrowband," said Dave Baker, head of legal and regulatory affairs for MindSpring (MSPG: news, msgs). By not broadening access beyond ExciteAtHome, AT&T limits the competition that has fueled the tremendous growth in Web surfing. The number of Internet subscribers has swelled to 33 million from just 3 million five years ago. But the cable industry's spotty customer-service record may slow growth if the industry is allowed to control the next generation of Web access, Baker added. S.F. vote The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the issue July 6. Last month, a federal judge in Oregon ruled that AT&T must open its cable lines to rival Internet access providers. Although U.S. District Court Judge Owen Panner's decision only affects the Portland area, analysts said companies will seize on the ruling as a precedent they can use elsewhere to exploit cable lines for Internet services. See related story. AOL is the largest ISP, with about 17 million subscribers. Nearly all of its customers connect via 28.8K or 56.6K modems, which are about 40 times slower than cable connections. New Net use Super-fast connections are increasingly vital as Web surfers' tastes and needs evolve from static Web pages to video conferences and downloaded movies. ExciteAtHome, which enjoys a market capitalization of nearly $14 billion, had 460,000 subscribers at the end of the first quarter. The Redwood City, Calif.-based company plans to have at least 1 million subscribers and be profitable by the end of the year. On Thursday, shares of ExciteAtHome rose 1 1/16 to 55, while AT&T gained 1 to 56 13/16. AOL rose 3 3/8 to 113 3/8, and MindSpring rose 1 7/8 to 43 3/16. ExciteAtHome has partnered with AT&T to build up the technological system to provide broadband access for up to 5 million subscribers. AT&T, the largest cable player, and other companies in the industry say they've spent $6 billion to enable existing cable to handle two-way data flow. But AOL and other ISPs counter that they're effectively blocked from using the cable connection. In place of cable, they've drawn up plans to offer faster Web surfing over traditional phone lines. Teflon