Tentative Deal May Keep Cable Online

There's word that ExciteAtHome has reached an tentative deal to keep Internet service running for their subscribers. The Washington Post reports the agreement involves 12 cable companies but AT&T is not part of the deal.

About 16 percent of customers of ExciteAtHome's high-speed Internet cable service had no online access Sunday after the bankrupt company cut off service to AT&T Broadband subscribers.

About 16 percent of customers of ExciteAtHome's high-speed Internet cable service had no online access Sunday after the bankrupt company cut off service to AT&T Broadband subscribers. AT&T had restored service to more than a third of its customers, about 226,000 subscribers, by moving them to its own network. The company said it could take as long as 10 days to restore service to its 640,000 other subscribers across the United States.

Deanna Bruggemann, an AT&T Broadband customer who lives in Livermore, about 45 miles southeast of San Francisco, had been without her home Internet access since 12:01 a.m. Saturday, but said she appreciated a call she got from AT&T advising her what was happening.

"It's really going to put a damper on Christmas because I do a lot of Internet shopping," she said.

Bruggemann, an insurance agent, said the computers in her office were not affected because they are on DSL, the high-speed service that uses telephone rather than cable lines. "I miss my Internet," she said. "When you're so used to not having dial-up, the thought of having to go back – no way! They better figure out something."

Denver-based phone company Qwest Communications said Sunday it could quickly transfer AT&T Broadband customers dropped by the high-speed service and give them $300 in free services. The company said it expected to hook up customers within 10 to 15 days and has added staff to handle calls.

AT&T Broadband spokeswoman Sarah Eder dismissed the offer as a marketing ploy. "Even in times when we have a network problem, we can still get customers up and running faster than Qwest," she said.

Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Carlson gave Redwood City-based ExciteAtHome permission to cancel its contracts with cable companies after concluding they had become burdensome to the company. ExciteAtHome executives said the contracts were costing the company up to $6 million per week.

The Washington Post reported Sunday night that ExciteAtHome had reached an tentative agreement with 12 cable companies to keep the Internet service running for their subscribers. AT&T was not part of the deal, which was likely to be formalized Monday, the Post reported.

Service to other cable companies that sold Internet access through ExciteAtHome's network had not been cut off. ExciteAtHome has more than 4 million subscribers.

In a statement on its Web site, ExciteAtHome said that while it was still negotiating continued service with its other cable company customers, it ended service to AT&T "after determining that it would not be able to reach agreement."

Calls to ExciteAtHome representatives were not immediately returned Sunday.

ExciteAtHome wants the cable companies to pay higher fees to connect to its network. Until ExciteAtHome filed for bankruptcy protection, the cable companies had been paying a monthly fee of $12 per subscriber.

ExciteAtHome's bondholders have accused AT&T of using its controlling position on ExciteAtHome's board to steer the company into bankruptcy as part of a scheme to buy the company. AT&T denies the allegation.

Susan Leepson of Cox said all the company's customers had service Sunday. Rogers Communications' 425,000 customers using ExciteAtHome also still had service, said president and chief executive John Tory.

A message on Comcast's consumer hotline said Sunday that the company had not lost service.

Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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Author: 6 - ABC, Action News