@Home starts rollout in Fremont. (cable-based Internet access service unveiled in California)(Brief Article)

Cable Internet access to be available to 16,000 TCI homes

The high-speed @Home cable Internet-access service last week began what will start as a relatively low-speed rollout in Fremont, Calif.

The commercial introduction of the service, which was tested in the area during the past year, comes several months later than was originally slated. Initially, the service will be made available to some 16,000 of the 64,000 households TCI Cablevision of California passes in the area.

Standard @Home service is being priced in Fremont at $34.95 per month, including unlimited Internet access, use of a high-speed cable modem, e-mail and chat functions, a customized Web browser and a menu of local information. TCI will charge an installation fee of $150, which covers a dataport, ethernet card and @Home software. "Our months of preparation and testing mean that customers in Fremont can now receive @Home," said Bruce Ravenel, president of TCI Internet Services.

TCI plans to gradually offer access to the service to more Fremont neighborhoods. It also has plans to introduce the service in its Arlington Heights, Ill, and Hartford, Conn., systems before year's end.

The company's MSO partners in the venture will get into gear to launch @Home soon. A source at Comcast says that it will begin to roll out the service in the next two weeks, with Baltimore and Philadelphia the likely initial markets. Cox Cable plans to introduce the service in San Diego and Orange County, Calif., next year.

Although the initial TCI offering probably represents the business model for the near term, a variety of packages are being contemplated, says Will Hearst, former @Home CEO and now a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, the other partner in the venture. Hearst recently suggested that the service might charge content providers for multicasting them in various formats on @Home and could split online revenue with others.

The venture recently announced as-yet-undefined relationships with 65 content providers, including Discovery Channel Online, E! Online, ivillage, American Cybercast, the New York Times Electronic Media Co. and the Wall Street Journal.