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To: E. Davies who wrote (15787)	9/30/1999 10:37:00 PM
From: E. Davies	Respond to of 29970

Sorry to do this, but yet another rumor: lineone.net **** BT aims for huge US Internet deal FROM GRAEME BEATON IN WASHINGTON British Telecom partner AT&T has held talks with America Online on a partnership likely to send shudders through Freeserve and other Internet service providers on both sides of the Atlantic. The deal, under intermittent discussion, would place BT, AT&T, high-speed Internet provider and portal Excite@Home and AOL in what one analyst dramatically dubbed "a gorilla" alliance. AT&T owns a controlling interest in Excite@Home, which offers online access through cable TV in parts of the US and Canada. The companies involved declined to comment on the talks, which sources said are complex and might not end in an agreement. But rumours of a link-up between AT&T and AOL have sent AOL's shares soaring 20 per cent in the past five days. One story has insisted that AT&T would team up with BT to buy AOL, whose market value is close to œ70billion. However industry sources said it was more likely AOL - keen to gain greater control over telecom systems which form the backbone of its online business - would seek a partnership. AT&T, in the process of buying American cable giant TCI, would also offer AOL a platform for high-speed Internet service through set-top boxes or similar technology. The implications of a tie-up between BT, AT&T and AOL are far-reaching in Europe. The addition of the AOL brand to BT's existing services would coincide with greater co-operation between the biggest telecom companies in both the UK and the US. BT and AT&T are expanding their alliance into mobile phone services in the US and seeking additional synergies. A deal would also set the stage for co-operation between AOL, which has been struggling to compete with Freeserve, and BT's newly launched Internet services.AT&T is also trying to expand its Worldnet Internet service with discounts for phone customers.

To: E. Davies who wrote (15787)	9/30/1999 11:11:00 PM
From: Solid	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

Eric, <Both the statements and the newspaper report appeared to contradict comments by Leo Hindery, chief executive of AT&T's broadband and Internet services business, who denied Wednesday AT&T was in talks to sell its stake in ExciteAtHome to AOL. "There have been no discussions underway whatsoever," he had said in a Reuters interview at the time. "I typically don't comment on things of that sort. But when it's absurd, I do." Hindery heads AT&T's cable TV operations and as such plays a key role in the company's ties to ExciteAtHome. He had emphasized: "There are no discussions underway to split the company between its content and distribution activities." An AT&T spokeswoman declined to comment when asked to reconcile Hindery's comments and the company statement. She also declined to comment on the newspaper report that AT&T had proposed to split ExciteAtHome.> After the press conference, a source close to the AT&T spokeswoman (standing next to her) did over hear her ask an associate to find out who let Hindery out without permission and to find out how long he had been going without his thorazine. <g> s