Netscape Communications chief executive James Barksdale said Tuesday his company's proposed merger with America Online poses potential conflicts with his presence on the board of At Home, and he expects to resign his board seat.
America Online has criticized At Home and other suppliers of high-speed broadband Internet services for denying AOL access to their networks, which are typically owned by cable operators.
AOL called on regulators to force cable operators to open their networks to rival providers of broadband Internet service.
Speaking to fund managers at the Warburg Dillon Read Information Security Conference, Barksdale said, "I doubt I'm going to stay on the At Home board once we close the deal."
Three weeks ago, AOL agreed to buy Netscape for US$4.2 billion, a transaction that's expected to close in early 1999.
- - -
HDTV -- not: The future is not bright for digital high-definition television, according to a new report from Forrester Research. The reason, in a nutshell: price.
"Consumers will be dazzled by HDTV's picture and sound, but the sets will remain economically out of reach for 90 percent of customers" for the next 10 years, said Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff.
Standard definition digital television, on the other hand, will thrive. While the picture quality cannot match that of HDTV, it is far superior to today's analog standard, and not much more expensive. Forrester expects the price of standard digital sets to fall below $1,000 by 2002, while HDTV sets will hover around $2,000.
"While digital television offers a variety of ways for TV manufacturers, broadcasters, and cable operators to make money, high-definition television does not," the report concludes.
- - -
Yet another Net stock offering: Internet service provider MindSpring Enterprises filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday to sell an additional 2.3 million shares to the public.
The offering is expected to be completed in December. The lead underwriter is ING Baring Furman Selz LLC.
For the nine months ended 30 September, MindSpring (MSPG) saw net income of $6.8 million, on revenues of $75 million.
In the company’s S-3 filing, MindSpring said one risk factor is that, since its launch in February 1994, it has incurred significant annual operating losses. MindSpring said its accumulated deficit as of 30 September 1998 is $6.86 million.
MindSpring offers local Internet service in 375 locations in the United States.
Wired News has a distribution agreement with MindSpring.
- - -
Bonds on ETrade: ETrade Group said on Tuesday customers can now trade bond through its site, making it the first online brokerage to offer debt securities directly to online investors.
The new ETrade Bond Center, which has been available on a test basis for six months, lets customers trade US Treasuries, corporate, and municipal bonds. It also offers analytical tools, price quotes, commentary and rating information.
ETrade (EGRP) claimed it's the first online brokerage offering bond trading. The Palo, Alto, California company said while some online investment services offer limited online bond trading, most continue to require their customers to make bond trades over the telephone through a broker.
Reuters contributed to this report.
