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Strategies & Market Trends : The Thread Formerly Known as No Rest For The Wicked -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Angela B. who wrote (37282)	5/7/1999 10:58:00 AM
From: Tradelite	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90042

For Angela B. and comments about AOL & cable access... ________ Angela's comment: <<One plausible way for AOL to gain access in a viable manner would be to buy out CBS and take over their frequency allocations on cable systems. But this would be so disruptive and take so long to achieve from an architectural perspective (time needed to amend HFC, or other fiber-based, system specifications and for modifications to the set top box, etc.) that it wouldn't be a very viable alternative in the end, either. Can AOL afford to wait out such a lengthy metamorphosis of existing cable infrastructures >> ________________ The degree of misunderstanding about AOL's goals and needs regarding cable is growing by the day. 1. AOL has publicly stated that its customers are not yet demanding cable access, so it's not a mission-critical thing for AOL to run around buying cable companies or becoming partners with them. 2. Legislation is being introduced in Congress to require open access to cable lines, and AOL's Steve Case has lobbied for such legislation as the answer to his needs. As with any legislation, this will take time... 3. AT&T's CEO, Michael Armstrong, said yesterday in an interview on CNBC that he and Steve Case can work together to provide all the cable access AOL needs. AT&T is building the infrastructure but is not a content provider for the Internet and, as such, is not in competition with AOL. 4. It wouldn't do AOL any good to buy into just one cable company, such as AT&T. AOL's subscriber base is nationwide. T will only own cable in certain parts of the country. 5. Before we place any expensive stock bets on the future, we should first make sure T gets the regulatory approval it needs to complete its deal with MediaOne. We should also hope Congress provides for companies like AOL to have access (and buy it for a fee, if necessary) to cable lines. 6. Meanwhile, we should not expect more of AOL than it is already doing, which is an awesome job of building a subscriber base and better content for its web portal. AOL can stay out of the cable business for a long time, and yesterday was proof that it intends to.