Chapter 11 For Excite@Home

n8twj writes: "According to this story at CNET News, Excite@Home, the leading provider of broadband Internet access, said Friday it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and sell its high-speed network to AT&T for $307 million in cash." jgbrown adds: "@Home files for Chapter 11, they are going to sell their assets to AT&T unless they get a higher offer. Here is a Yahoo News link." An Anonymous Coward adds a link to a story at cnnfn.com." Just like Loki and Exodus, this doesn't mean that Excite@Home has dropped off the face of the earth -- it does mean that are seeking legal protection from creditors in an attempt to reorganize.

Comments

Mass mailing last night

[Tolomak]

September 29, 2001

To: All Rogers @Home high speed Internet customers

A couple of weeks ago we made a commitment to keep you updated on any
developments regarding Excite @Home in the U.S.

Yesterday Excite @Home announced that it has agreed to sell its high-speed
Internet access assets to AT&T, pending court approval. We are very pleased
with this announcement as Rogers has worked well with AT&T in the past and
continues to do so. As you may know, AT&T is one of the largest
communications companies in the world.

At the same time, Excite filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of
the United States Bankruptcy Code. This action allows Excite to remain in
control of its business and provides it with protection from creditors
pending completion of the sale.

Please be assured that our commitment to you remains to provide you with
the best high speed Internet service.

We will continue to update you on a regular basis so that you remain
informed.

Alek Krstajic
Senior Vice President and General Manager
Rogers @Home

Cringely Right Again

[General_Corto]

You people may like to look at Bob's article from August 30 which quite neatly explains where Excite@Home finds itself.

Remind me to buy stock in Cringely if he ever IPOs.

This is too confusing

[compugeek007]

Okay maybe ssomeone here with a higher mental capacity can help me -

I Have @Home service, But I pay my bill to AT&T @Home. My cable TV is Comcast, but I pay my bill to ATT Cable. When I call for service, A Media One truck pulls up.

I am beginning to think all of these cable companies are a smokescreen for Microsoft.

@home deal falls through

[rant-mode-on]

AOL, ATT and Comcast were falling over themselves today in attempts to buy the ailing @home. However, it is believed that talks have fallen through. Evidence of this was leaked by a disgruntled employee who had a copy the 'training tape' made when Comcast called:

@home: "Hello, can I have your at home account name please?"

comcast: "Er, actually I work for Comcast and I would like to buy your company, and I need to speak to your CEO about a deal"

@home: "Oh, can I have your primary email address then please?"

comcast: "No, you don't understand, I called earlier and left a message for your CEO to call me back."

@home: "Ok, I see the problem then. Could you unplug your cable modem for 30 seconds please?"

comcast: "What? No, I need to speak..."

@home: "I'm sorry that won't be possible, nobody here has telephones. You need to unplug your cable modem."

@comcast: "You don't understand, if I don't speak to your CEO, you could lose your job."

@home: "I'm sorry, my SEE-EE-OH doesn't have a telephone. Could you reboot your PC now please?"

@comcast: "Oh for heavens sake, you'll be the first against the wall"

@home: "Oh there's a problem with your wall, we'll send a technician round then. Thank you for calling @home."

Later on, the disgruntled employee complained about @home's recruitment policy. "At the interview, they said all I needed to be able to do was to pick up the phone and to speak English. Technical ability was never a requirement. They never did trust me - I was never allowed to see the secret document that showed how to transfer calls to people that fix problems. What is a cable modem anyway?"