It’s anarchy out there. Reports are coming in from all over (DSLReports.com is a good place to watch the action) about the ongoing Excite@Home shutdowns. As near as I can tell, Excite@Home decided to shut down one cable provider as an example to the others. AT&T was chosen and 800,000 cable connections were shut down by Excite@Home this morning. AT&T wasn’t caught completely flatfooted, but most AT&T cable subscribers are now dead, and it will be anywhere from two days to several weeks before their service resumes through AT&T’s own facilities. (And when it does they’ll all have to start using new e-mail addresses – the @home.com addresses are dead for AT&T subscribers, effective immediately.)
Reports are coming in of problems for other cable customers using Excite@Home, although it’s unclear if there’s a pattern to it. There could be more shutdowns, or just a couple of days of intense bargaining.
Awful. Just awful. My condolences to cable subscribers.
