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

To: Bob Zacks who wrote (3015)	10/29/1998 11:52:00 PM
From: ahhaha	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

I would have been more interested in all the technical aspects in the past, but not now. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm an investor only. From Broadband Bob: While cable operators should have the right to forbid access, they have already made access available to online service providers such as AOL. AOL rejected an opportunity presented by TCI that would allow @Home users to access the online service for a fee that would be placed on top of the @Home service fee. AOL wanted TCI to offer high-speed connectivity as a separate service from @Home. In its proposed model, subscribers would pay a meager fee for high-speed connectivity and then be given the option to pick their own ISP or online service such as AOL or @Home. Knology, a telecom provider utilizing a HFC network (operates more like a LEC than a cable operator), is operating under an equal access model. It recently signed a non-exclusive agreement with MindSpring, allowing the national analog ISP to offer data services over its systems. Unlike most second-party cable ISP agreements, which are inked similar to a programming service and based on revenue sharing, Knology will be leasing bandwidth to MindSpring, as a telco would lease a T-1. It will provide similar leased bandwidth opportunities to 3 or 4 providers in each of its markets. In a press announcement last week, it was reported that Time Warner and AT&T were working on a deal that would provide reciprocal access to each other's networks. While few details were revealed, the announcement suggested that talks included both voice and data services. Rumors of a deal between Time Warner's Road Runner and AOL are sill floating and it is expected that the two providers are much closer to an agreement than AOL has ever been with TCI. Depending on the arrangement, if either one of the Time Warner deals solidifies, it could mark a huge shift in the way cable providers operate and could seriously threaten their status with the FCC. While a leased bandwidth access model will probably be used frequently by non-cable HFC ops (which are already labeled common carriers) such as Knology, RCN, and SBC, and consistently entertained by Time Warner, it is unlikely that traditional cable operators will pursue such a model. I don't understand how AOL-Road Runner would "seriously threaten their(cable ops) status with the FCC". The Knology-Mindspring arrangement is similar to that suggested by T-TCI.