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Microcap & Penny Stocks : IATV - ACTV Interactive Television -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Atheist who wrote (2188)	6/24/1998 3:18:00 PM
From: anthony karpati	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4748

SEE ARTICLE: They should be happy, maybe this will speed things up: Wednesday June 24, 1:33 pm Eastern Time TCI to get access to AT&T cash, marketing savvy By Jeffrey Benkoe NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) - The marriage of AT&T Corp. (T - news) and Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI) (TCOMA - news) gives the giant cable operator access to AT&T's fat wallet and marketing savvy, and could lead to the speedy arrival of the TV as the conduit for shopping, telephone services and entertainment. ''The merger simply speeds up the process, and insures the deployment to market,'' of TCI's upgraded cable systems, said Ed Hatch, an analyst at UBS Securities. TCI is in the midst of switching its cable systems to digital technology, giving subscribers sophisticated set-top boxes to allow two-way data transfer services and other interactivity. The debt-laden company has committed to spending $1.8 billion over three years on the upgrade. ''TCI was behind the rest of the industry as far as upgrading their cable plant,'' said Gary Farber, an analyst at Cowen & Co. ''They get a blue-chip corporation behind them to fund that drill.'' TCI, based in Englewood, Colo., was ranked the largest U.S. cable operator, according to 1998 data from the National Cable Television Association. But after completion of a series of sales, TCI was expected to slip to the number two spot, behind Time Warner Inc. (TWX - news). TCI Chairman John Malone has often spoke of a future when cable subscribers could view dozens of channels and pay-per-view movies when they wanted, surf the Internet, and buy goods and services from their TV sets. They could do their banking over the Internet, via the cable hookup, and buy anything from clothes to books. Now that will include wireless telephone services, and will allow the combined company to offer local phone service. Analysts believe the deal could transform Malone's vision into a reality. ''It can accelerate TCI's reach and the nirvana that John Malone has described so many times in the past,'' said Chris Dixon, an analyst at PaineWebber. ''Essentially, it's a joint branding opportunity for the two companies,'' said Dixon. ''They can cross-market a broad array of their products.'' Analysts said that over a 10-15 year time frame, as TCI upgrades its systems, it will have access to AT&T's engineers as well as its cash flow. AT&T's cash flow -- or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization -- totaled $11.3 billion in 1997. AT&T Chairman C. Michael Armstrong valued the TCI deal at $68 billion, which includes $31.8 billion for TCI shares, the assumption of $11 million of TCI debt and $20 billion for TCI's Liberty Media Corp. (LBTYA - news) programming arm. TCI's announcement on Wednesday brought up memories of the failed $30 billion merger agreement with Bell Atlantic Corp. (BEL - news) four years ago. The deal fell apart after Malone balked at unfavorable terms. This time, analysts believe the deal can work, in part because of a good relationship with Armstrong. Also, Malone has been backing away from running the day-to-day operations of the business. Last year, he hired Leo Hindery as president of TCI. ''Malone may be looking for the opportunity to pass the torch,'' said Dixon.