ISDEX gains 5% to 511.79 as investors start to believe in stocks once again after a choppy three-weeks of interest rate debate. The biggest news again today is @Home which rebounds up 9.7% to $103.75 per share as the cable Internet company hosts a conference call to explain what the Oregon Federal court decision about cable Internet means.
The gist to me is this: the court only ruled on a jurisdictional point, that the city of Portland has the right to make decisions regarding its cable provider. While that opens up possibilities it also doesn’t represent a definitive ruling or court order.
Translation: it looks like there’s a long way to go from jurisdiction to enforcement as AT&T (NYSE:T) will certainly appeal anything that threatens its investment in cable.
Beyond that, and this was something I said in my Morning Report today (June 7) even if cable wires are leasable by anyone that doesn’t make those leasing space competent at providing broadband service.
Further, what @Home’s technical guru Milo Medin says on the call today is that cable Internet may not be able to support unlimited leasing, that the cable headends themselves are not set up this way.
Even if lines were open today it would take a few years to install proper equipment to handle this. To me that signals @Home and Time Warner’s Road Runner having an edge for several years no matter what the courts, FCC, or anyone decides.
That’s why early last year I said in this report that AOL (NYSE:AOL) should acquire @Home. Now that AT&T owns it too late.
Other snippets today:
And are you ready for this monumental day for three Internet companies?
Here goes: