TCI retreats from cyberspace
The giant cable television company will end its foray into cyberspace and refocus on its core cable services.
TCI was too quick to embrace new technology markets such as the Internet and telephone services, CEO John Malone admitted in a report in the Wall Street Journal.
TCI is the largest cable company in the United States. Malone said his company would return to cable and scale back plans to become a player in telecommunications and the Internet. The CEO said using cables for television to deliver telephone service--one of many new technologies--may not be the right answer in today's market.
The move is not surprising. TCI's recent stock performance has disappointed some investors.
The stock was trading today at 13-3/8, up 5/16 of a point. It has traded as high as 22-3/8 and as low as 11-1/4 in the past 52 weeks.
The cable giant already had been taking steps to cool its investment in cyberspace. In November, TCI said it had withdrawn a $125 million investment in the Microsoft Newtork. It continues to pursue high-speed Internet access with the @Home network, although Comcast and Cox now share the investment in the venture. That new ownership structure was announced earlier this year; TCI originally was the lone cable television investor in @Home.
In a companywide cost-cutting bid, TCI recently announced plans to cut its staff by 2,500 and the pay of top managers by 20 percent.