Tired of the World Wide Wait?
Tele-Communications Inc. and its Redwood City-based partner @Home announced Feb. 5 that they are teaming up to offer a new high-speed cable modem service in town, called TCI@Home.
The service will bring subscribers customized Net access up to 100 times faster than a 28.8 kbps modem for $39.95 per month. The connection enters homes via the coaxial cable, to which users connect with a special cable modem. The service doesn't interfere with television or phone lines.
Subscriptions will include customized content, such as viewable movie trailers, that will be exclusive to @Home subscribers. In addition, @Home plans to increase customized service by working with Redwood City-based Excite, which @Home moved to acquire in January.
To get TCI@Home, subscribers will also need to shell out a $150 connection fee that includes installation of the cable modem itself and driver software.
Los Gatos and Milpitas are the first South Bay communities to get access to the new service, along with the Peninsula cities of Belmont and San Carlos. @Home offers cable modem service with several other cable providers in North America and around the world. In the Bay Area, however, where cable service is dominated by TCI, service has so far been concentrated in the East Bay and parts of Marin County.
Johnson says demand and market research on demographics was behind the decision to kick off South Bay service in Los Gatos and Milpitas.
"The research indicates that there's a high demand in those cities for high-speed Internet access, and a good percentage of homes that have PCs," he said. "PC penetration is way above the national average, and even the Bay Area average."
Monte Sereno, however, is part of the Saratoga circuit and won't be getting cable modem service until later this year. TCI spokesman Andrew Johnson wouldn't say when service would be expanded to Monte Sereno or other cities.
The city of Fremont and a Sunnyvale neighborhood were the first in the nation to get the service, as part of TCI's testing program.
Pacific Bell launched its Digital Subscriber Line service in January for high-speed Internet access over phone lines, but the service isn't available in Los Gatos or Monte Sereno, which are served by GTE. GTE doesn't offer high-speed Net access.
Johnson says TCI will also set up area schools with free service.
Assistant Town Manager Jim Piper says the town has had inquiries and requests about cable modem service over the last few months. TCI's cables pass by 12,300 households in town, and about two-thirds of those homes are wired for service.
TCI recently transferred its cable franchise agreement with the town to AT&T, after AT&T announced that it would acquire the cable giant in June. Shareholders are set to vote on the merger Feb. 17, and pending approvals from the FCC and other government agencies, AT&T is set to take over TCI's cable network later this year.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
