@Home Network and Comcast Announce First Market for High-Speed Telco-Return Cable Modem Services

Move Speeds Time to Market

NCTA '97, NEW ORLEANS, LA -- March 17, 1997 -- @Home Network, a pioneering provider of high-speed, interactive services via the cable infrastructure, and Comcast Corporation today announced that Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has been selected as the initial market for "telco-return" cable modem service. Using a telco-return delivery mechanism, @Home can be deployed in markets where the cable system has not been upgraded to two-way plant, enabling cable operators to accelerate deployment of high-speed data services. Comcast and @Home Network intend to make the telco-return service available in the City of Philadelphia during the third quarter 1997.

"While a two-way cable delivery system provides the best medium for broadband service, @Home Network is committed to increasing the rate of service deployments by leveraging multiple broadband solutions," said Tom Jermoluk, chairman, president and CEO of @Home Network. "Telco-return enables our cable partners to shorten time to market, extend market reach, drive penetration and achieve an attractive return on investment as they continue to upgrade their cable plants."

Telco-return systems deliver "downstream" data via high-speed cable lines while "upstream" data travel over conventional phone lines. As the vast majority of traffic is downstream, the performance for telco-return users is over 100 times faster than conventional dial-up services while information they send, such as key strokes and mouse clicks, will travel at analog speeds. In addition, telco-return provides a smooth migration path to a two-way cable delivery system for cable operators.

"We strongly support a telco-return strategy because it will let us serve more Comcast homes with high-speed Internet access that much sooner," said Roger Keating, vice president, Comcast Online Communications.

Underscoring the company's end-to-end management, @Home Network is proactively installing and managing a dial-up point-of-presence (POP) in Comcast's cable headend to support the service in Philadelphia. In addition, all network operations and client software will be managed by @Home Network to provide a high-performance, easy-to-use service.

Pricing for the service has yet to be determined. Many telco-return cable modems are currently being evaluated; a selection will be made in the near future.

Comcast Corporation, the parent company of Comcast Online Communications, is principally engaged in the development, management and operations of wired telecommunications including cable television and telephone services; wireless telecommunications including cellular, personal communications services and direct-to-home satellite television; and content through principal ownership of QVC, the world's premier electronic retailer, through C3 (Comcast Content and Communications), through majority ownership of Comcast-Spectacor and through other programming investments. The Company's consolidated and affiliated operations serve over ten million customers worldwide.

Comcast's Class A and Class A Special Common Stock are traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbols CMCSA and CMCSK, respectively.

@Home Network distributes high-speed interactive services to residences and businesses using the cable industry's hybrid-fiber coaxial infrastructure and its own network architecture. The cable connection provides users significant increases in speed over conventional Internet access, and @Home's network allows for unique content offerings that go beyond current Web experiences. @Home Network and its cable partners are marketing the high-speed Internet access in Arlington Heights, Illinois; Fremont, California; Baltimore, Maryland; Hartford, Connecticut; Sarasota, Florida; and Orange County, California.

Based in Mountain View, California, @Home Network was formed in 1995. Investors in the company include Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI), Comcast Corporation, Cox Communications, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. @Home Network's home page on the World Wide Web is http://www.home.net.

@Home Network, @Home Network, and the @ logo are trademarks of @Home Network and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. All other brands and products are trademarks of their respective companies.