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Technology Stocks : MindSpring Enterprises (MSPG) Another ISP. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Oleh who wrote (1418)	12/6/1999 3:02:00 AM
From: 2MAR$	Respond to of 1434

AT&T Pledges To Share Lines for Web WASHINGTON, Dec 06, 1999 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- AT&T is pledging that its customers will eventually have a choice in the Internet providers using the company's recently acquired high-speed cable lines. In a move that could help quell fears about the telecommunications giant gaining too much control over what information reaches consumers' homes, AT&T plans to allow rival Internet companies access to its cable pipes. The company was expected to send a letter to regulators today, laying out how it eventually will let competitors share its high-speed connections, according to sources close to the discussions. That letter to the Federal Communications Commission spells out the framework AT&T will use in negotiating future contracts with rival Internet providers, said the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity. Among those signing on to the terms outlined in the letter is the nation's No. 2 Internet service provider, MindSpring Enterprises, Inc. Although the letter does not amount to a contractual agreement, it sets the stage for AT&T to reach a deal with MindSpring and other Internet companies. AT&T officials have said in the past they would consider agreements with other companies once their exclusivity contract with Internet provider ExciteAtHome expires in June 2002. The letter is aimed at shoring up that commitment, although any deals still could not take effect until the 2002 contract is up, the sources said. The nonbinding agreement does lay out AT&T's pledge to charge Internet providers reasonably comparable prices and set similar conditions for their deals. The nation's top Internet service provider, America Online, was not a party to the discussions. AT&T's promise comes amid growing debate on the national and local level about whether the company should be forced to share its newly acquired high-speed cable lines with rivals. Broadband access over cable lines provides connection speeds dozens of times faster than today's dial-up telephone modems. AT&T has positioned itself to become a major player in the broadband market through its purchase of cable company Tele-Communications Inc. last summer and its proposed merger with MediaOne. But AT&T's exclusive arrangement with Internet provider ExciteAtHome has drawn the ire of other companies such as America Online that now reach consumers through the slow dial-up phone connections. They want to deliver their service over AT&T's cable lines into customers' homes. Consumer groups also have called for AT&T to share its lines with rivals, fearing that the company will otherwise exert too much influence over the diversity of information reaching the public. Consumer advocates said Sunday that AT&T's action is a move in the right direction and an open acknowledgment that it is possible for multiple Internet providers to share the same cable pipe. But they said AT&T's pledge falls far short of ensuring nondiscriminatory access for all Internet providers. ''It does not fulfill our concerns about designing an Internet that will promote growth and protect against content manipulation,'' said Andrew Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project. Others expressed concern that such agreements were leaving too much to be worked out in the hands of the private sector. ''They moved an inch when they have to move a mile,'' said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Media Education. ''This is too important to leave to private parties behind closed doors.'' So far, the FCC has declined to force cable companies to share their high-speed lines with Internet competitors, saying it is too early for government regulation in the nascent market. But the commission's hands-off policy has not deterred some local leaders from taking matters into their own hands and ordering AT&T to open its lines. Copyright 1999 Associated Press, All rights reserved. -0- By KALPANA SRINIVASAN APO Priority=r APO Category=1700 * end of story *