| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : AUGUST 30, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| NEWS: ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY
Three Scenarios for Excite@Home OPTION #1 AOL ON STEROIDS Excite@Home CEO Tom Jermoluk would like to build the company into an online power with a full range of content and services. But that would diminish AT&T's ability to profit from its cable network by cutting deals with other content companies. Bottom line: Excite@Home shareholders would be happy, but AT&T would suffer. OPTION #2 TOE IN THE WATER The current situation. AT&T is in the content business, but it's not taking full advantage of Excite as Jermoluk wants. AT&T is having a hard time cutting deals with other content companies because Excite@Home has the exclusive right to market AT&T's cable Net access. Bottom line: Excite would be a largely wasted asset. OPTION #3 JUST PIPES AT&T could sell off Excite and take control of the @Home business. That way, AT&T could market the content of Yahoo! or AOL to its customers. A key issue will be who controls the customer; AT&T wants to handle billing so it can cross-sell long-distance and wireless service. Bottom line: AT&T would benefit, but Excite@Home would suffer. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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RELATED ITEMS What Will AT&T Do with Excite@Home? TABLE: Three Scenarios for Excite@Home INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
