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Technology Stocks : America On-Line (AOL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Vendit™ who wrote (10486)	4/13/1999 8:46:00 AM
From: Lou D	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 41369

4/13/99 - DIRECTV OPENS COMMUNICATION LINES WITH AOL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Apr. 12, 1999 (SATELLITE TODAY, Vol. 2, No. 69 via COMTEX) -- DirecTv [GMH] reportedly is in talks with America Online [AOL] (AOL) on a possible Internet alliance. Eddy Hartenstein, DirecTv president, told reporters at the SkyForum conference in New York last week that his company expected to finalize Internet access agreements within 30 days, although he would not identify the potential partners. The news immediately fueled rumors that AOL would be a partner, on which DirecTv spokeswoman Gina Scalise would say only that the company is in discussions for interactive services with a number of companies. She would not confirm whether AOL was among the prospects. AOL also was being guarded this morning. But Steve Blum, president of satellite broadcasting consultancy Tellus Venture Associates, told us: "DirecTv is aiming to bundle services that supplement TV viewing. Potentially, DirecTv could be providing 'TV-centric' AOL content via satellite. It would be much the same way DirecTv is offering WINK and DTN service." WINK is a multimedia service that adds data to TV shows, while DTN provides a separate data stream for agricultural and weather data services. Echostar Communications Corp. [DISH] previously announced a deal of its own to offer Microsoft's [MFST] WebTV to its viewers. "I think a deal will happen," Blum said. "I think AOL is a likelier deal than WebTV, but WebTV still is a possibility." Analysts said that any such agreement with AOL would involve equity exchange, providing DirecTv with Internet access in counterpoint to EchoStar's deal. Hughes also is investing $1.4 billion in the Spaceway satellite system to deliver high-speed voice, video and other communications in the United States by 2002. Copyright Phillips Publishing, Inc.