Cox and ComCast @Home users REJOICE!!!!!

[Trevelyan]

Here is the press release from Cox.com. ComCast has one also, but I can't find it on the website yet:


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2001

COX COMMUNICATIONS ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT TO AVOID DISRUPTION OF COX@HOME INTERNET SERVICE

Pact Ensures Residential Cox@Home Customers and Business Customers Continue To Receive High-Speed Internet Access During Transition To New Cox-Managed Network

ATLANTA - Cox Communications, Inc. (NYSE: COX) today announced that it has reached an agreement that will allow the company's 555,000 Cox@Home customers and more than 20,000 commercial business customers to maintain Internet access through their broadband connections until the company transitions to its own high-speed network. The agreement is pending approval by Bankruptcy Court Judge Thomas E. Carlson.

Through the agreement involving Excite@Home, its creditors, and other cable companies, Excite@Home will continue to serve as Cox's supplier of high-speed Internet service while Cox rolls out its own managed network over the next few months. Under the terms of the agreement, Cox will pay $160 million to Excite@Home for three months of uninterrupted service for its Cox@Home subscribers. This amount will be in lieu of the monthly subscriber fees previously paid to Excite@Home.

Excite@Home filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September and subsequently was faced with a court ruling that threatened to disrupt high-speed Internet service for approximately 4 million residential cable customers, including those served by Cox. Some customers of Cox's commercial division, Cox Business Services, would also have been impacted. On November 30, a bankruptcy court judge approved a petition filed by Excite@Home giving it the right to terminate its service agreements and cease providing service to its cable affiliates and their customers. However, following Friday's ruling, Cox was successful in negotiating a new temporary agreement with Excite@Home so that service will continue for a brief period of time until Cox's new network is fully deployed and its Internet customers have been transitioned to a new Cox-managed service.

"We are pleased that all parties in this case reached an agreement based on the best interests of our customers," said Dallas Clement, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Development. "This agreement allows an orderly transition of Cox@Home customers to our own high-speed network without the fear of major service disruptions."

The agreement doesn't change Cox Communications' plans to transition its customers to the company's own nationwide high-speed Internet network. That transition will begin in December and will be completed, on a market-by-market basis, by March 2002.

"This agreement means we have been given time to transition our customers in an orderly fashion, without any prolonged service outages or e-mail disruptions," said Pat Esser, Executive Vice President of Operations. "Establishing our own network will give us more control over the quality and reliability of service, the ability to add new features, and allow us to be more responsive. Our new system will be based on the most advanced technology and will be supported by Cox technicians and service representatives who will monitor all aspects of the service and quickly resolve any technical issues. Ultimately, our own network will allow us to provide an improved customer experience, which will increase customer loyalty and attract new customers." Cox Communications currently offers high-speed Internet access through Excite@Home in 18 markets. In addition, Cox provides high-speed Internet access to an additional 230,000 customers under the brands RoadRunner and Cox Express. These customers also will transition to Cox High Speed Internetsm service later next year. Cox Business Services Internet customers will simultaneously transition to the Cox-managed data network.


About Cox Communications:

Cox Communications, a Fortune 500 company, serves approximately 6.2 million customers nationwide, making it the nation's fifth largest cable television company. A full-service provider of telecommunications products, Cox offers an array of services, including Cox Cable; local and long distance telephone services under the Cox Digital Telephone brand; high-speed Internet access under the brands Cox@Home, RoadRunner and Cox Express; advanced digital video programming services under the Cox Digital Cable brand; and commercial voice and data services via Cox Business Services. Cox is an investor in telecommunications companies including Sprint PCS and Excite@Home, as well as programming networks including Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel. More information about Cox Communications can be accessed on the Internet at www.cox.com.

About Cox Business Services

Cox Business Services is the commercial broadband division of Atlanta-based Cox Communications, Inc. A full-service, facilities-based provider of telecommunications solutions, Cox Business Services serves home offices; small, medium and large-sized businesses; school districts; and hospitality, government and military properties in cities across the nation. Cox offers high-speed Internet services; switched voice services and long-distance; wholesale carrier access; and dedicated voice, data and video transport services. More information about Cox can be accessed on the Internet at www.coxbusiness.com.







Cox.com
Comcast.com



This is so awesome. I'm getting Cox cable internet installed Thursday, and I'm glad that it will at least work now

 

[Radboy]

thx for the info.

 

[pay]

Aleluyah!

 

[Budman]

So our Cox will not be out in the cold,i like my cox to stay at home too. it's much warmer this way.

 

[ViRGE]

Guys, I did some math; you're in trouble.

Cox and Comcast each agreed to pay said $160mil for the 3 months service; their combined user base is ~1.35mil users.

At an average rate of $45 a month for cable modem service, they stand to take in a combined ~$60mil a month in gross revenue. In the 3 months, it would be $180mil.

Now remember, I said Cox and Comcast each agreed to pay the $160mil, so they're really paying a combined $320mil.

$320mil-$180mil=$140mil; Cox and Comcast are losing a combined $140 million over the 3 months to offer cable modem service. This is just to foot the @home bill, this doesn't pay their "last mile" costs, or the costs of building the new network. Unless they have a nice cash reserve, prepare to see your rates go up, way up.

PS AT&T offered a total $307 million for all of @home; now we see why they dropped out of the negotiations so early

 

[andrey]

Thanks for the update!

 

[slunk]

I was getting scared. Thank you!

 

[volfan]

I was seeing if Comcast.com had anything and it's pretty much the same thing. I am so glad I don't have to go back to dial-up...for a while at least.


<< COMCAST AND OTHER BROADBAND SERVICE PROVIDERS REACH SERVICE AGREEMENT WITH EXCITE@HOME




Print this Press Release

Monday, December 03, 2001

Philadelphia, PA - Comcast Cable Communications, Inc. today announced that it and a group of other broadband service providers have reached a definitive agreement with Excite@Home that ensures uninterrupted high-speed service for its customers.

?Comcast?s first priority is to provide reliable and high quality service to our customers. To that end, we have been working around the clock to make sure our customers receive uninterrupted high-speed Internet service,? said Steve Burke, president of Comcast Cable. ?We are pleased to announce an agreement that ensures uninterrupted @Home service while we begin to systematically transition our customers to a Comcast owned and operated high-speed Internet system.?

Under the terms of the new agreement, which is pending approval by Bankruptcy Court Judge Thomas E. Carlson, Comcast will pay $160 million to Excite@Home for three months of high-speed Internet service. This amount will be in lieu of the monthly subscriber fees that would have been paid to Excite@Home. Comcast anticipates that all of its high-speed Internet customers will be transferred to a new Comcast-owned and managed network well in advance of the expiration of this three-month period.

?In order to avoid future situations like this, and to provide our customers with the best in high-speed Internet reliability and functionality, we are in the final stages of developing a 100% Comcast managed network, and we will shortly begin to transition our customers to this new system,? Burke said.

Comcast Corporation (www.comcast.com) is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable networks, and in the provision of electronic commerce and programming content. Comcast Cable is the third largest cable company in the United States serving more than 8.4 million cable subscribers. Comcast's commerce and content businesses include majority ownership of QVC, Comcast-Spectacor, Comcast SportsNet, The Golf Channel and Outdoor Life Network, a controlling interest in E! Networks, and other programming investments. Comcast's Class A Special and Class A Common Stock are traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbols CMCSK and CMCSA, respectively.

>>

 

[volfan]

I should have checked my e-mail before posting. Could you please update the title to Cox and Comcast @Home? Thanks for posting this. More from Comcast:


<< Dear Comcast @Home Customer,

I am pleased to announce that Comcast has reached an agreement with Excite@Home, pending approval from the Bankruptcy Court, that provides you with uninterrupted high-speed Internet service. Comcast?s first priority is to provide you with reliable and high-quality service. This agreement also will ensure a smooth transition from your current service to an improved, all-Comcast managed Internet service in the weeks ahead.

Comcast High-Speed Internet will provide you with the high-speed, always-on connection you?ve come to enjoy. This new Comcast service also will offer improved reliability, customer support and features, such as ?e-mail from anywhere? with web-based e-mail and an innovative storage solution for MP3s and photos.

We will provide you with notification and instructions on how to convert your account to Comcast High-Speed Internet before we introduce service in your area. In addition, Comcast will continue to provide you with regular updates on our toll-free hotline at 1-888-433-6963 and on our website at http://www.comcastonline.com/info.htm.

Having this agreement in place is an important piece to ensuring a smooth transition to Comcast High-Speed Internet. We appreciate your loyalty as a customer and apologize for any inconvenience you have been caused in the last week. We will continue to aggressively strive to provide you the best high-speed Internet service and support possible. Thank you for choosing Comcast.

Sincerely,


David Juliano
Senior Vice President, Comcast Online Communications >>

 

[Trevelyan]

<< Guys, I did some math; you're in trouble. >>



Not actually, because the $160 million is IN ADDITION to the already paid monthly fees. So really they are paying $160 million MORE. Think of it this way: Cox is making an investment. If they didn't do this they would lose A LOT OF BUSINESS, especially from businesses that currently have cable, and most would then switch over to DSL for broadband access. So you see, Cox really has no choice in this.

 

[przero]

Supposedly, now Excite@home will forward all our e-mail for a set period of time when we are transferred to the new network. Allows us to change e-mail addresses smoothly!

 

[pm]

<< If they didn't do this they would lose A LOT OF BUSINESS, especially from businesses that currently have cable, and most would then switch over to DSL for broadband access. So you see, Cox really has no choice in this. >>

Of course they had a choice. They could have done what AT&T did and basically said "forget it, we can set up our own network". What happened was a game of chicken between Excite@Home's bondholder's and the cable companies in which neither side blinked. AT&T was the only bidder for Excite@Home's assets. They offered an amount that was about 1/3 of what the bondholders thought that it should be. So the bondholders used the best leverage that they had: withdrawl of the services that Excite@Home provides during the length of the bankruptcy proceedings.

First they said that Excite@Home wouldn't take any more customers during the proceedings unless the cable companies put more cash in to cover the losses incurred by adding new customers. After a couple of days of no new customers, the cable companies gave in and put in the extra cash ($60 million?), so then the bondholders probably bolstered by their success in this, turned to the existing service. They said, "we are losing $6 million per day with the existing customers... pay us to keep it running (or pay us a lot more for Excite@Home) or we will pull the switch and shut it all off." So, at that point AT&T started hunting around for ways to keep the service running without using Excite@Home, and at the same time tried to keep them from pulling the plug through various legal maneuvers. Presumably the other cable companies proceeded on this same dual track, but AT&T is the biggest player in this game so the attention is on them.

But on Friday, after weeks of maneuvering and despite pleas from the FCC and many other major players, the judge ruled (fairly in my opinion) that internet access is not an essential service (even in the case of businesses), and that the bondholders were within their rights to protect their assets. I didn't actually think that Excite@Home would pull the plug, but they did. So on Saturday morning at 1:15am PST, everything went out. Apparently AT&T was the best prepared for this eventuality because they got about 1/3 of their customers back on line within 24 hours, and 2/3's within 48 hours. They dropped their offer to buy Excite@Home's assets - apparently they think that they have proved that they don't need them. Cox and the other minor players gave in and signed an agreement that basically has them losing a fair amount of money per subscriber over the next three months but enables a much easier transistion.

It's Tuesday night and my cable light is still blinking "unconnected". I'm not sure what to think of all this. My wife uses the internet to work from home and this loss of access has not made it easy for her to hit her deadlines. So on Sunday, I paid Earthlink $20 for access and I dug up our old modems. I'm not exactly impressed with any of the parties involved in this mess - including the judge - and I'm less impressed with the new AT&T rules (my D/L bandwidth is getting chopped by about 50%, rules against FTP and web servers are going to be more rigorously enforced) and I'm unhappy (but resigned) with the direction that AT&T is headed - ie. tiered service.

Fortunately I'm one of the few cable modem subscribers that I have spoken to here who has the choice of going to DSL if I'm too unhappy, so we'll see how it plays out.

But back to my original point, there definitely was a choice. AT&T took the other choice - worse for it's subscribers, but probably better overall for AT&T in then end.

 

[Trevelyan]

The cable guy should be at my house in a few minutes.. I'm so happy!!