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To: steve host who wrote (12540)	4/23/1999 8:12:00 PM
From: Tom Tallant	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 41369

Hey Steve....I bet you think Linux is going to replace Windows too.<g>

To: steve host who wrote (12540)	4/23/1999 8:34:00 PM
From: CGarcia	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 41369

I paid $49.95 for my DSL connection...monthly rate...Can cable beat that rate? AOL will do just fine offering DSL...peace and good luck.

To: steve host who wrote (12540)	4/23/1999 8:37:00 PM
From: Tunica Albuginea	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 41369

steve host, why don't you call ( your ) boss Armstrong at AT&T and ask him what's for dinner before telling us stories on this thread? cbs.marketwatch.com By Jeffry Bartash, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 6:22 PM ET Feb 10, 1999 WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- AT&T's chief executive says the carrier will allow independent content providers such as America Online access to its soon-to-be-acquired residential cable lines, dismissing suggestions that his company will operate the network as a monopoly. C. Michael Armstrong, in a speech Wednesday at the National Press Club, said customers want as much access to content as possible and it's in AT&T's "self-interest" to satisfy them. See text of speech. "The way you make money in networking is to have the most traffic over your facilities. And the way you have the most traffic over your facility is you attract the most content." Armstrong said. "We'll attract all the traffic we can on that network." AT&Ts plans have two groups with a lot at stake watching developments. Independent content providers worry that AT&T (T) will try to exclude them from its fledgling cable network and rely exclusively on its own affiliates, such as At Home Corp. (ATHM), to provide user content including news, sports, financial data and other programming. Smaller providers, already facing a tough field of rivals, would be hard-pressed to compete with the breadth of programming resources available to AT&T and its partners. Local phone company operators have raised their eyebrows as well. Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, they are required to provide consumers access to long-distance carriers through their exclusive local networks. Since the local Baby Bell telephone companies operate as regulated monopolies, the act requires them to furnish long-distance access without imposing excessive charges. Currently under pressure from lawmakers to speed up competition in regional markets, they see AT&T's cable approach as the best near-term remedy to create more players in local telephony. Wanting access to a cable system that allows more players, regional providers petitioned federal regulators to force the mammoth phone company to open up its forthcoming cable network, but government watchdogs have decided against intervention for now. See related story. The cable guys AT&T is close to completing a $59 billion purchase of Tele-Communications Inc. (TCOMA), the second largest U.S. cable TV supplier, and it has a alliance with the industry leader, Time Warner (TWX). The goal: to provide local phone and high-speed Internet access over cable lines. See related story. The long-distance carrier has zeroed in on cable as a means to bypass the local Bells, which control the wiring from the homes to the nearest switching station. Cable provides several advantages. It's capable of super download speeds. And AT&T can avoid paying access charges to the Bells' by relying on its own network. At present, AT&T pays the Bells 4.6 cents per minute to connect long-distance calls, or an average of 30 cents on the dollar, Armstrong said. AT&T's overarching aim is to become a so-called one-stop provider of telecom services: local, long-distance, cable, data, high-speed Internet. AT&T has been driven in that direction by the erosion of its core long-distance business and by huge opportunities presented by the explosive growth of the Internet. Indeed, Armstrong said the company hopes to stabilize its long-distance business by packaging it with the other services. And broadband cable is now the chosen method of delivery. "The cable box on your TV will not only let you order pay-per-view movies -- it will be a virtual communications center," he said. "We're not just your old phone company anymore." Won't happen overnight Still, the chief executive acknowledged it will be "four to five years before AT&T's investments with the cable companies can have their full effect on consumer choice." Armstrong said AT&T ultimately hopes to secure access to 60 or 70 percent of the country via cable lines, either through acquisitions or alliances. The carrier will seek access to the remaining households through leasing agreements with local phone companies or through its budding fixed wireless technology. The wireless venture, dubbed Project Angel several years ago amid much fanfare, has taken a backseat since Armstrong took over AT&T in late 1997. Engineers, however, have made tremendous strides in improving the technology and lowering costs, Armstrong said, and the service will begin tests later this year. "We will be deploying fixed wireless," he asserted. Beating up Bells Sounding the steady drumbeat of other long-distance carriers and independent local phone carriers, Armstrong also spent much of his speech bashing the Baby Bells and the monopoly control they hold over the phone lines to the home. He urged politicians to leave the Telecommunications Deregulation Act of 1996 alone and said regulators simply have to enforce provisions of the law, particularly by forcing the Bells to lower access charges and open their markets to competition. "The Telecom Act of 1996 doesn't need re-thinking," he said. "It needs enforcing." The act sprang from the desire of lawmakers to see competition introduced into the domestic telecom sector, which they hoped would lower prices and spur innovation. The act has only enjoyed mixed success, however, and lawmakers are becoming increasingly impatient at what they view as a lack of competition in the cable and local-phone sectors. That's prompted talks of revisiting the 1996 act, though for now most industry observers don't expect significant changes.