AT&T Commits to Home Networking

AT&T Consumer, which is part of AT&T, and AT&T Broadband, which is part of Comcast, have embraced competing technologies for networking subscribers' homes.

by Thor Olavsrud of internetnews.com [January 18, 2002]

AT&T unit AT&T Broadband may have been dealt to Comcast, but while it is still under the AT&T umbrella, the company is following in its parent's footsteps with a move to support home networking technology.

On Jan. 8, AT&T Consumer, on which AT&T is pinning its continuing broadband hopes, announced its commitment to HomeRF as a wireless home networking technology that can help drive adoption of its DSL offerings.

AT&T Consumer seems eager to exploit the latest version of HomeRF, HomeRF 2.0. The company said the standard's new voice capability, combined with AT&T's advanced voice and data services, will give AT&T customers both high-speed Internet access and the ability to make telephone calls over broadband connections that have the same quality as those made over traditional telephone lines. The standard also supports up to eight voice connections, which would allow the company to push extra services, even in homes in which the wiring and RJ-11 phone jacks only support two telephone lines.

"By using the license-free 2.4 GHz frequency band and integrating voice, data and entertainment on the telephone handset, we hope to make HomeRF the worldwide cordless phone standard," said Ken Haase, chair of the HomeRF Working Group.

AT&T's decision to join the HomeRF Working Group builds on its announcement Monday that it will issue a tracking stock for its consumer business, which, along with working to offer local service in markets it expects to be profitable, will also make a push in DSL using the assets it acquired last spring from NorthPoint Communications.

Betsy Bernard, president and chief executive officer of the consumer division, told investors Monday that the company expects the DSL operations to be profitable in three years.

AT&T Broadband has taken a different approach. On Thursday it partnered with Linksys, which will provide it with hardware solutions and support, allowing AT&T Broadband to offer its customers a choice of wired or wireless home networking. For a fee of $4.95 per additional computer, its cable broadband customers will be able to give up to four additional computers in their homes simultaneous Internet access and a unique IP address.

"AT&T Broadband's home networking solution is a major step in evolving the broadband home," said Scott Russell, product director for AT&T Broadband. "At AT&T Broadband, we're committed to offering innovative solutions to our customers so they can make the most of their broadband connections."

— End