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Technology Stocks : AUTOHOME, Inc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KevRupert who wrote (23335)	6/24/2000 2:16:00 AM
From: gpowell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

Perhaps you should opt for DSL, if it is available in your area. My experiences with AT&T have been very different from yours. The two times I have had a AT&T field tech out to my house (once for cable modem installation, and the other for digital TV hookup), the tech arrived within 15 minutes of the scheduled appointment. I've had AT&T@Home for close to 18 months. After a very frustrating first month or two, the service has been spectacular. I can't recall the last time I experienced an outage, perhaps 6 months or more. The outages I do recall (excluding the first month or so) lasted from tens of seconds up to perhaps a minute or two, max. Three of my friends have the service, and they love it as well.

To: KevRupert who wrote (23335)	6/24/2000 8:26:00 AM
From: matt gray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

Historically speaking you may be correct in many cases. But past history is not necessarily an indication of future performance. In the past [the last upgrade cycle maybe 7-10 years ago] there were alot of speculators in the cable business. Systems were upgraded with the intention of selling the system once completed. Many small mom/pop operators were owners. These folks had limited resources and many sold to larger companies [eg. TCI]. The returns were marginal quality was reduced by lots of series connected analog amplifiers and low maintenance response times. It was difficult to pay and retain people. Things may be changing since the revenue stream now includes digital TV, pay per view, cable modem, IP telephony for voice etc. If they execute they can afford to pay more and retain qualified people. At $40 per month for cable modem service this is a real benefit to the consumer. No way BELL or the DSL CLECs would ever consider offering these services at competitive prices unless forced to. Even if you choose not to use cable modem service your reduced cost is a result of competition provided by these cable companies.