Excite haunts AT&T from beyond the grave

NEWS US cable giant AT&T has been blocked from signing up new subscribers to its high-speed internet services by bankrupt broadband provider Excite@Home. AT&T and rival cable firms Comcast and Cox, rely upon Excite's network to provide high-speed internet over their cable lines, but now Excite's move has left them looking for new ways to meet subscriber growth targets. Excite said to allow new subscribers to be signed up would mean a deterioration of quality of service across the network for existing users. AT&T is Excite's controlling shareholder. Despite having filed for bankruptcy last month Excite says it has enough money to carry on until the end of the year. AT&T has already bid $307m for Excite's network assets, an offer which is still under consideration. But the Financial Times quotes a source close to situation as suggesting Excite's latest move is an attempt to impress upon AT&T its reliance upon the network, potentially paving the way for an increased bid.