Excite@Home goes titsup.com

Files for bankruptcy, sells business to AT&T

Excite@Home is to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and flog its broadband operation to AT&T for $307 million in cash.

The announcement - which came late on Friday - came as no surprise to industry watchers who correctly predicted that the dotcom was heading for bankruptcy.

The company said that the Chapter 11 filing would enable Excite@Home to carry on providing its broadband service to its 3.7 million customers until the sale is complete.

In a statement, Patti Hart, chairman and chief exec of Excite@Home said: "This filing is a tool to protect the value of the broadband business for the benefit of the company's financial stakeholders and will help reassure our customers that service will continue uninterrupted through the restructuring process."

If the move gets the go-ahead, AT&T will acquire Excite@Home in the new year. Reports suggest that the telecoms company has no interest in the portal business and could be on the look out for a buyer.

Only last week Excite@Home axed 500 jobs - around a quarter of its workforce - in a bid to slash costs and keep the operation alive. Most of those jobs came from Excite@Home's portal business. ®

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