WorldCom to offer DirecTV Net access
The telephone and data services company is to provide some U.S. markets with high-speed Internet access to a unit of the satellite broadcaster.
DirecTV said it would use WorldCom's network to provide digital subscriber line services to residential customers. The agreement--the terms of which were not disclosed--will supplement DirecTV's existing connection agreements with the four U.S. Baby Bell local-telephone companies.
WorldCom offers DSL access, which provides high-speed Internet service over basic telephone lines, in more than 55 major metropolitan markets.
DirecTV is a unit of Hughes Electronics, which has agreed to merge with rival satellite telephone provider EchoStar Communications.
DirecTV Broadband, which Hughes acquired in April 2001, was launched in 1999. It had an existing agreement to lease co-location space from WorldCom.
Separately, Hughes said it expects to add more subscribers to its DirecTV service in the first quarter than it earlier forecast. Hughes plans to add 325,000 net new subscribers in the first quarter, compared with its earlier expectation of 200,000 to 250,000 additions.
The company also said it expects first-quarter cash flow to be within its forecast range of $80 million to $100 million. Typically, cash flow declines as satellite companies increase their subscriber base because the company has to spend more in marketing expenses to attract those subscribers.
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