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To: E. Graphs who wrote (6845)	3/25/1999 9:08:00 PM
From: HECTOR RUBERT	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29970

Could someone tell me when the ATHM 2 for 1 split take effect? Please advice... Regards, Hector

To: E. Graphs who wrote (6845)	3/25/1999 9:20:00 PM
From: Educator	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

E. Graphs- Thanks for posting the article. Let's hope government doesn't step in and cause interference. I was told yesterday that even though @Home was in my city, it is not yet available on my street. Customer service would not guarantee when I would have it. I live within the city, but in a wooded setting with few houses. We have a homeowner's association and maintain our own roads. I think I may be screwed for awhile. I am getting discouraged. I want speed!!!!:o) Ed

To: E. Graphs who wrote (6845)	3/25/1999 9:55:00 PM
From: ftth	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29970

CABLE OPEN ACCESS DEBATED. Television Digest, March 8, 1999 v39 i10 pNA Cable and Internet executives gathered in Washington March 2 for debate on open access to cable broadband. As in past, ISPs warned of Internet "gatekeeper" and cable representatives insisted industry wouldn't have monopoly power. Debate at monthly meeting of public interest groups' Telecom Policy Roundtable was closed to press, but panelists all gave consent to be quoted for this article. AT&T Gen. Counsel-Exec. Vp James Cicconi said that merely permitting access to cable plant wouldn't provide ISPs with high- speed service: "You have to go get someone else's system" to connect to Internet, as most MSOs are doing with AtHome and Road Runner. America Online (AOL) Senior Vp-Global & Strategic Policy George Vradenburg said it didn't need to go through AtHome: "We are prepared to build our own system... We are willing to invest billions." He said AT&T-TCI "won't let us buy it [access]." Debate kept shifting from regulation to engineering to business plans. Cicconi cited some engineering difficulties in accommodating other ISPs but Vradenburg said they could be overcome. Cicconi said MSOs and connectors such as AtHome need to recoup their investments, but Vradenburg said "this is not a matter of paying back someone's investment" and AOL will pay whatever price is necessary. Cicconi said AT&T needed to have freedom to develop business plan it thought appropriate and not be weighed down by such requirements as mandated wholesale pricing sheets: "Don't tell us what to charge." But Vradenburg said AT&T used that argument to threaten communities in TCI license transfer process not to provide service, to "take our football and go home." NCTA Dir.-State Telecom Policy Rick Cimerman said FCC doesn't have authority under Telecom Act to impose open access regulations, but Vradenburg said Internet "infrastructure is regulated." He said OpenNet coalition of AOL, Mindspring, U S West and others doesn't want common carrier regulations on cable, "but an extension of cable regulations" to require nondiscriminatory access. Regulatory debate centered on whether cable will be monopoly Internet provider. Saying U S West is monopoly and AOL is dominant ISP with 16 million customers, Cicconi said it would be "ironic if [OpenNet] could stifle this new entrant in its cradle." To calls that cable would dominate Internet of future, Cimerman said best 5-year projection is that cable will hold only 25% of market. Cicconi said idea that "AT&T, with zero market share in broadband, will suddenly leap to a monopoly position in Internet access is patently absurd." Cimerman and Cicconi pointed to telcos' DSL service, DBS online services, wireless providers and utilities as potential alternatives for consumers. AT&T is "trying to sell services," Cicconi said, not create Internet bottleneck. He said company won't be like traditional cable operator: "We are a platform. We are not trying to compete with AOL on content." Rather, he said, AT&T wants to put as many offerings on platform as possible: "If our customers want AOL, we want AOL on our platform."