Word: tci
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...cable empire is finally striking back. Its secret weapon: blisteringly fast access to the Internet, courtesy of the cable modem, an electronic gadget that connects computers to the outside world via cable-TV lines instead of phone lines. In the past two weeks, America's two largest cable operators, TCI and Time Warner, launched the nation's first commercial cable-modem services in Fremont, California, and Akron, Ohio, respectively. Time Warner built its own service, dubbed Road Runner (after Warner Bros.' lightning-speed cartoon character); TCI joined forces with a Silicon Valley start-up called @Home. The basic pitch, however...
...think you can easily escape the dreaded cable companies. Tele-Communications Inc., the nation's largest cable operator, and No. 2 Time Warner, among others, own Primestar Partners of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, the second largest dbs provider. TCI has begun to offer a $99 dish installation--half the usual price--to those consumers who sign up for two years...
...course, to be suspicious of precisely the sort of vertical integration Time Warner hopes to achieve. The commission was particularly obsessed by TCI chieftain Malone, who controls 22% of TBS and therefore wields veto power over its acquisition. Together, TCI and Time Warner control 40% of the U.S. cable market, and the FTC dearly wanted to limit Malone's influence. In response, the infamously brilliant strategist, not a man renowned for his negotiating generosity, clinched the deal by suggesting the creation of a spinoff company comprising up to 14.9% of Time Warner shares--a company that he would not control...
What's in it for him? Malone is said to be eager to cash out his Turner stake, possibly even ready to sell TCI outright to News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, ever ravenous for new distribution lines. Just last week Murdoch buffed up his portfolio with a $2.5 billion purchase of the 10-affiliate-strong New World Communications Group, and there could be a tidy little Turner windfall awaiting him too. The FTC deal requires Time Warner to carry a second news channel on its systems to complement CNN; don't be surprised to find the infant Fox News Channel...
...will MCI, AT&T, TCI, Time Warner and countless others. Bewildering? Sure, but also very competitive. He who offers the best service at the lowest price will win 21st century Americans' hearts and monthly subscription fees...