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To: FR1 who wrote (23652)	7/19/2000 3:31:02 AM
From: FR1	Respond to of 29970

This is interesting: dailynews.yahoo.com Tuesday July 18 4:51 PM ET AOL, Time Warner Seek to Speed Open Access By Derek Caney NEW YORK (Reuters) - The top executive of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX - news) said Tuesday the media and cable giant will restructure its high-speed Internet service partnership to start to give competing service providers access to its cable pipelines sooner than planned. Time Warner and merger partner America Online Inc. (NYSE:AOL - news) have developed a business plan that would ``substantially speed up the ability for customers to choose from multiple Internet service providers'' that have access to the company's cable lines, Time Warner's chief executive Gerald Levin told analysts on Tuesday. Time Warner Cable, the No. 2 cable operator in the U.S. after AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news), owns a 38 percent stake in Road Runner, an Internet service that allows high-speed connections over cable lines. The other partners include AT&T, which owns 34 percent; Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news), which owns 10 percent; Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news), which also owns 10 percent; and privately-held media firm Advance/Newhouse, which owns 8 percent. There are restrictions in the affiliate agreements that each partner has with Road Runner that prevent Time Warner Cable from immediately opening access to rival service providers, Time Warner has said in the past. Analysts believe that access to high-speed lines was one of the main motivating factors behind AOL's $120 billion acquisition of Time Warner. But this aspect of the deal will be one of the most scrutinized by U.S. regulators, who are trying to ensure that the companies that own the pipeline -- in this case, the cable lines -- open them to rival service providers. Road Runner has exclusive rights to Time Warner's cable lines through the end of 2001, which, Time Warner says, prevents it from opening up access to other service providers. But in a conference call with analysts following the release of its quarterly results, Levin said intervening factors could lead to opening up access before then. Levin said on Tuesday AOL and Time Warner have developed a more detailed business plan that allows AOL access to Time Warner's cable lines. The two companies are hoping that the plan can be used as a template for other service providers seeking access to cable lines. In March, AT&T increased its voting stake in ExciteAtHome, Road Runner's rival, to 74 percent from 56 percent. In June, it closed its $44 billion acquisition of MediaOne Group Inc., making it the No. 1 U.S. cable operator. But as a condition of the deal, the U.S. Justice Department required AT&T to sell its stake in Road Runner, which it acquired in the MediaOne deal. That requirement would, in effect, force Time Warner to restructure its partnerships in Road Runner. ``It allows us to open access to multiple ISP's substantially quicker,'' Levin said. ``AOL is currently talking to cable operators (in an effort) to accelerate multiple ISP access,'' Levin said of his company's pending merger partner. Time Warner, in turn, is in conversations with service providers to allow access to its cable lines.