AT&T Broadband Passes Milestone

AT&T Broadband reached a milestone Wednesday with the signing of its one millionth customer to its cable Internet service.

The cable network owner offers cable service for high-speed Internet use through its AT&T@Home and AT&T Roadrunner programs.

According to AT&T Broadband officials, the milestone puts the company on pace to reach the 1.1 million customer goal it had set earlier this year.

Don Schena, AT&T Broadband senior vice president, said cable Internet is changing the lives of people used to slow dial up Internet services.

"AT&T Broadband's always-on, lightning-fast cable Internet service is changing lives," Schena said. "Non-computer users are becoming Internet users, and the Internet is becoming a center for household activity. People who have constant connections are using the Internet four times as much as people who have slower dial up connections. The always-on aspect of AT&T cable Internet services is helping the Internet fit into people's lives."

The company is in a unique position because of its ownership of one of the largest cable infrastructures in the U.S. It has exclusivity deals with the two major providers of cable Internet services, @Home and Road Runner, which run through 2001.

Cable Internet has been hugely popular with consumers because of its ease of installation and its ability to run over the existing coaxial cable TV line. For the past year, it has maintained a majority over digital subscriber line service in the high-speed Internet race, although DSL seems to be gaining ground.

Schena congratulated the millionth customer by giving Gerry and Arlene Balot of San Francisco one free year of service, a new Gateway computer and a cable modem.