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To: ahhaha who wrote (2963)	10/26/1998 2:49:00 PM
From: ERM	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29970

<<What you see as negative for ATHM in the common carrier status and other anti-competitive war on wealth agendas, I see as beneficial>> O.k., I need some help on that one. ATHM's revenues are derived by subscribers who access their network via the cable plant. In addition to the monthly fees, ATHM receives advertising dollars based on usage. Soon, they will get other ancillary (i.e. software sales/rentals) portal based revenue. How is it beneficial to ATHM if the cable operator must provide, for instance, a separate 6 Mhz channel for AOL high speed customers? The cable operator will, presumably, receive a cost based payment for that subscriber, but ATHM will receive neither a subscription fee nor advertising revenue. The only positive that I can see is the "rising tide raises all boats" theory, meaning that opening up cable plant to all comers results in an overall increased demand for broadband services. However, that's happening anyway with xDSL, satellite, MMDS etc.. Look at the Phoenix market as an example. I can't see that tenuous positive outweighing the obvious negative. So what am I missing?

To: ahhaha who wrote (2963)	10/26/1998 4:25:00 PM
From: ERM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

I just reread your post 2929 which contains your answer to my question re: how common carrier status is actually good for ATHM. Therefore no need to respond, although I have to say I disagree with your conclusion. While you may be right that competition will make ATHM a better and stronger service in the long run, the fact is today's price assumes exclusive broadband access in the markets served by ATHM. If that were to change as a result of regulations, I suspect the stock would take a pretty good hit. Depending on your investment time horizon, this may not matter, but for anything under 3 years, I suspect it's an issue worth watching.