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

To: neverenough who wrote (3017)	10/30/1998 9:16:00 AM
From: E. Graphs	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

AT&T wants to offer Internet content options biz.yahoo.com >>AT&T Corp., after its acquisition of cable Tele-Communications Inc., wants to let subscribers of the At Home Internet service add content from other online companies as well, but for an additional fee. >>The combined AT&T-TCI would support an ''open access'' system which would allow At Home subscribers to supplement that service with the content from companies such as America Online Inc. (NYSE:AOL - news), AT&T's Chairman C. Michael Armstrong told reporters at lunch meeting Thursday. >>AT&T said it has outlined its vision for the open access system, but has not held specific talks about deals with online service providers. >>AT&T's plan reiterated comments made by Armstrong and merger partner TCI last week during a Federal Communications Commission forum in Washington. >>TCI owns about 39 percent of At Home Corp.(Nasdaq:ATHM - news), which provide high-speed Internet access over cable television wires. >>Currently cable customers pay about $30 or more a month for the high speed Internet connection and the At Home service, which provides an e-mail account and other features similar to those provided by AOL and other Internet providers like MindSpring Enterprises Inc.(Nasdaq:MSPG - news) >>Under Armstrong's proposal, customers who also wanted content or information from AOL or other services would have to pay those companies an additional ''content'' fee. >>AT&T said the system would allow customers to have the content from several service providers without having to pay for full, separate online accounts with each company. >>AOL, MindSpring and other companies, however, fear AT&T/TCI's combined high-speed access and service offering will put them at a severe disadvantage. >>Under the AT&T-TCI plan, a customer wanting AOL would still have to pay the flat rate for At Home Internet access even if they were not using the e-mail and other At Home features, and then pay an additional fee for AOL. >>MindSpring, AOL and others have asked regulators to require that TCI offer separate content and access, with a lower price for simple access. >>Separating those services would allow a customer to get access from At Home but chose a content provider of their choice. >>An AT&T spokeswoman, however, said it is not the company's intention to unbundle access from content. >>AT&T agreed to buy TCI in June for $48 billion. That deal will allow AT&T to provide local telephone service to about one-third of all U.S. households using TCI's cable infrastructure instead of a traditional copper telephone network. >>On Thursday, several consumer groups also spoke out against the deal, saying the At Home service not only would thwart other Internet and online service providers but also threatened the openness of the Internet. At Home already prevents its customers from watching more than 10 minutes of streamed video pictures and could impose other limits, the groups said.<<