Despite its transitional status, MediaOne Group Inc. met or
exceeded its financial goals for the fourth quarter and the year, executives said last
week.
MediaOne president Jan Peters told analysts last week that
growth targets were either met or exceeded during the year, including ones for revenue
(10.9 percent), operating cash flow (5 percent) and subscriber gain (1.7 percent).
In the quarter, revenue was up 11.6 percent to $693 million
and operating cash flow rose 7.3 percent to $249 million.
The MSO plans to have 150,000 phone customers by the end of
2000, up from 66,000 in December, and to double its high-speed-data customer base from
220,000 currently. Digital-subscriber numbers are projected to rise to more than 300,000
from 56,000 now.
Chief financial officer Richard Post said the
company's pending sale to AT&T Corp. is progressing as planned, and it should
receive the necessary federal regulatory approvals by the second quarter of this year.
MediaOne had hoped to receive those approvals and close the
deal by the end of the first quarter, but that is not likely to happen. The Department of
Justice is reviewing the deal.
Chairman Chuck Lillis said discussions between AT&T and
Time Warner Inc. concerning the Time Warner Entertainment partnership are ongoing.
AT&T will inherit MediaOne's 25 percent interest in TWE. "We think it is a
nonissue" as far as the AT&T-MediaOne merger is concerned, he added.
MediaOne has won franchise transfers from 902 of 908
municipalities so far. Post said about 150 of those communities have given approval on the
condition that they can revise the franchise agreement if regulatory changes regarding
open access are made at the national level.
