BROADBAND
Lately, the battle over who will provide high-speed Net access via cable has begun to resemble a tag-team wrestling match. Tom Jermoluk is ready to rumble.
"I get angry when I hear the other side intentionally misleading the public," growls Jermoluk, chair and CEO of Excite@Home. "They're constantly talking out of both sides of their mouth."
The ring is set for a monster showdown. In the near corner stand AT&T and Excite@Home, the Silicon Valley firm that has the exclusive rights to provide Internet access to AT&T's cable system, which is now the country's second largest. In the far corner are challengers AOL and GTE, which want to wrestle cable Net access from Jermoluk's team.
Jermoluk, the former Silicon Graphics president chummily called "TJ" by colleagues, is usually a boyishly charming advocate for his company. But the broadband battle seems to be bringing out the Hulk Hogan in everyone. In June, a federal judge ruled that Portland has the legal right to require AT&T to open its cable system to outside ISPs, a solution that AT&T hotly argued was technically impossible. Days later, AOL and GTE announced the findings of a trial project that proved (or so they said) cable operators could easily give outside ISPs access.
Jermoluk has a proposal he thinks would settle at least the technical dispute: a Battle Royale among engineers to put open access to the test.
"I'm extending an open offer for their technical people and ours to get together and test these systems in front of an independent body," says Jermoluk.
A roomful of sweaty engineers furiously clicking mouses probably won't have the drawing power of Wrestlemania. But at least Jermoluk has a place to take the cable rights.
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