GTE Sues AT&T;, Comcast Over Net Access

GTE Corp. accused cable operators AT&T; Corp. and Comcast Corp. in an antitrust lawsuit of illegally forcing customers to buy Internet access from their affiliate, squelching competition from rivals such as GTE’s Internetworking unit. GTE, a local telephone company and an Internet service provider, said AT&T; and Comcast required cable customers to buy Excite@Home Corp.’s service as a condition for getting installation of Internet modems on their cable boxes. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Pittsburgh, was the latest effort in GTE’s campaign to force local cable franchises to open Internet access to all competitors. GTE, America Online Inc. and other Internet service providers have been campaigning to force cable TV companies to open their high-speed Internet connections to unaffiliated service providers. Excite@Home, also named in the lawsuit, has an exclusive contract to provide high-speed Internet access over AT&T;’s cable lines.