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Charter's high-speed Net customers might be in the dark A bankruptcy judge's ruling in the @Home case lets the service pull the plug By GREG STILES Thousands of Charter Communications' Internet customers in the Rogue Valley were warned they might have to fend for themselves Friday following a court decision that allowed bankrupt Excite @Home to cut its service. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Carlson ruled that Excite @Home of Redwood City, Calif., could reject its service contracts with its cable partners, allowing the company to shut down its service as early as midnight Friday. Excite @Home wants to renegotiate its contracts with cable companies, claiming it is losing $6 million per week. Excite @Home provides high-speed Internet services to 3.7 million U.S. customers. Charter Communications has 5,000 @Home customers in the Rogue Valley, including Ashland, where Charter is locked in stiff competition with the city-owned Ashland Fiber Network. Carlson said the "debtor's decision to reject the contracts is a reasonable exercise of business judgment." Many of Excite @Home's cable partners want the contracts to stick so their customers' service isn't cut. Whether the company would shut off service was expected to depend on the outcome of negotiations between @Home, the cable companies that use @Home's services and bondholders. Charter group Vice President Ron Hren, who oversees the company's Oregon operations, said late Friday afternoon that negotiations would continue until midnight Friday. "It's not a technical issue; it's a financial issue," Hren said. "We don't know what will happen at midnight or (today). We do have the network in place and we hope for a smooth transition." Charter has hinted that it would like the @Home service contract, negotiated with the local cable network's previous owner Falcon Cable Television, to go away so Charter can market its own high-speed service, called Pipeline. The sticking point for Charter's @Home users is that they will need a diskette that will reformat their accounts to Pipeline, Hren said. Charter's office is at 926 S. Grape St. in Medford. Customers with questions should call 866-413-9098. Another option for customers is to switch Internet providers to a competitor such as AFN in Ashland. But high-speed Internet options are limited in many areas of the Rogue Valley, as is access to Charter's Internet service. "We continue to work around the clock to do everything in our power to minimize any service interruption," wrote Charter's vice president for Northwest operations, Marwan Fawaz, in an e-mail sent to customers from Vancouver, Wash., late Friday morning "All of Charter's high-speed data team members are working diligently to bring Charter Pipeline to your neighborhood as soon as possible." Fawaz recommended immediately backing up all e-mails, address books and web browser favorites on customer's computers. "In order to access the Internet and maintain an e-mail account, sign a short-term agreement with a recognized national Internet provider," Fawaz recommended in the e-mail. "Within the next few days when Charter Pipeline is available in your area, we will automatically contact you for installation; your name will be on our priority list." The memo said Charter will credit existing customers who sign up for Charter Pipeline with two days of cable modem service for every day that they go without their @Home service. AFN chief Dick Wanderscheid said his crews have extended their workdays to hook up new customers since Charter warned of possible service interruptions in mid-November. He said AFN has more than 1,800 high-speed customers, but wouldn't be able to significantly fill the gap if Charter's system goes dark. "Before things went crazy we were hooking up 30 to 40 customers a week," Wanderscheid said. "Now it's probably 45 to 55 a week. Our installers are working an extra hour-and-a-half a day and one is working on his days off." The Wall Street Journal reported the judge's ruling makes it possible for Excite and its creditors to demand higher payments from the cable companies. According to tech news source cnet.com on the Web, major cable partners of Excite @Home said chances of a blackout are slim. Excite @Home's lawyer declined to comment after the ruling. The cable companies are expected to appeal the judge's ruling. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.