I WEDNESDAY, Dec. 5, 2001
Access will continue
for some cable users
Companies are providing money to keep Internet
services operating for three more months.
By Brian Bergsteln
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SAN JOSE, Calif. AT&T Corp. has
dropped its $307 million bid for the
assets of bankrupt ExciteAtHome,
though the high-speed Internet
provider is getting more money from
its biggest remaining cable customers
in order to keep service for three more
months.
The latest developments came after
ExciteAtHome cut its cable Internet
service to more than 850,000 AT&T
Broadband accounts over the weekend
because the companies could not
agree on new contract terms. A federal
bankruptcy judge had authorized the
move.
The service remained on, however,
for other cable companies that contin
ued to negotiate with ExciteAtHome.
ExciteAtHome serves about 3.7 million
subscribers in North America
Cox Communications Inc. and Corn
cast Corp. agreed Monday to each pay
Excite $l6O million for three months of
service, enough time for the cable
companies to finish work on their own
networks for cable Internet service.
Another large ExciteAtHome cable
partner, Toronto-based Rogers Com
munications, struck a similar deal,
though the price was not disclosed.
Insight Communications also said it
also had agreed to pay ExciteAtHome
to stay on, though it will eventually
shift customers to alternate Internet
service providers.
Rogers CEO John Tory said all the
cable companies' deals require
ExciteAtHome to forward e-mails sent
to former "AtHome" accounts to
addresses at the cable companies' new
networks.
The payments, which must be
approved by a federal bankruptcy
judge, would be in lieu of the monthly
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subscriber fees that cable companies
pay to ExciteAtHome for its service.
Until ExciteAtHome filed for bank
ruptcy protection, the cable companies
had been paying a monthly fee of $l2
per subscriber.
AT&T said yesterday it had with
drawn its bid for ExciteAtHome's
assets because the Redwood City
based company violated their agree
ment.
An ExciteAtHome spokeswoman
would not comment.
AT&T owns 23 percent of ExciteAtH
ome, which uses a fiber-optic network
leased from AT&T. AT&T surrendered
its majority representation on the com
pany's board in October, hoping to
avoid criticism it had engineered the
company's bankruptcy so it could buy
the cable access network at a steep
discount.
AT&T said yesterday it had moved
about 500,000 of its affected sub
scribers, mainly in Oregon, Washing
ton, Texas and San Francisco, to its
own network and restored their Inter
net access.
Next in line were Internet cus
tomers in Illinois, Denver, and Salt
Lake City.
The process was far from smooth for
Brian Smith, 55, of Kent, Wash. His
cable modem was restored Sunday on
AT&T's new network but conked out
Monday.
He estimated yesterday morning
that he had spent more than 10 hours
on the phone, waiting on hold and talk
ing to several AT&T technicians, but
still had no service.
"I'm not a multimillion-dollar cus
tomer and they're just blowing me off
one way or another," Smith said.
ExciteAtHome bondholders had
hoped to prove the network is worth
substantially more than the $307 mil
lion in AT&T's offer.
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Bush: Arafat must limit terror
The president said the Palestinian leader needs to control Islamic militants.
ORLANDO, Fla. President Bush
said yesterday it is time for Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat to crack down on
Islamic militants and demonstrate
whether he supports peace with IsraeL
"It is incumbent upon Mr. Arafat now
to respond forcefully, to rout out those
who kill," Bush said. "We cannot let a
few prevent the many from achieving a
dream, which is lasting peace in the
Middle East."
In a move that could put pressure on
Bush as well as Arafat, two senior
House members introduced a resolu
tion that calls for suspension of all U.S.
relations with Arafat and the Palestin
ian Authority if they fail to destroy the
structure of Palestinian terrorist
groups.
The non-binding resolution con
demns the murder of 26 Israeli civilians
by Palestinian suicide bombers last
weekend and "expresses outrage at the
ongoing Palestinian terrorist cam
paign."
Rep. Henry Hyde, R-11, chairman of
the House International Relations
Committee, and Rep. Tom Lantos of
California, the senior Democrat on the
committee, sponsored the resolution.
The president spoke at a town hall
meeting after weekend bombings and
shooting attacks on Israelis that killed
26 people and wounded nearly 200.
"Israel's got no better friend that the
United States, as far as I'm concerned,"
Bush said. The administration has
declined to criticize Israel's reprisals
for the attacks.
Bush met with Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon on Sunday. Bush also
spoke about Israel earlier in the day in
an interview with ABC News' 20/20.
"I support Israel's right to exist as a
free nation, and I made that very clear
to the prime minister of Israel," Bush
said when asked if he supported
Israel's retaliation.
"I think there are some Palestinians
who don't want peace," Bush said, cit
ing the terrorist organization Hamas.
"There is no way that Israel can negoti-
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THIS IS YOUR COLLEGE NEWSPAPER ...
READ IT ... SHARE IT ....RECYCLE IT
NATIONAL
By The Associated Press
Susan Walsh/Associated Press
President Bush visits displaced workers from Orlando, Fla., on a visit to Operation
Paycheck Career Center. Bush visited Orlando to encourage tourism in a state that has
felt a significant decline in tourism dollars since the Sept 11 attacks.
ate a peace process so long as its coun- And the way he can do that is to aggres
try is being terrorized." sively rout out those who would derail
Asked if Arafat is interested in peace, the peace process by murdering inno-
Bush said: "That's what we're about to cent Israelis. Innocent women, inno
find out ... It's now time for Mr. Arafat cent children. Now is the time for him
to prove whether or not he is for peace. to step up and lead."
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN