MediaOne Upgrades, Renames Net Service

By Karen Kaplan

May 19, 1999 12 AM PT

About 20,000 Los Angeles-area customers of MediaOne Express will see their high-speed Internet service transformed into MediaOne Road Runner on Thursday. Along with a new brand name, the service will feature additional content, a new Web browser and customized channels that take advantage of the high-bandwidth connections that are possible with cable modems.

But some things won’t change. The service will continue to be about 25 times faster than Internet connections via standard dial-up modems. Customers will keep their current e-mail addresses, and the addresses of their personal Web sites will stay the same. So will monthly service fees, which run about $40 a month in addition to a regular cable bill.

The MediaOne Express service has already been upgraded for customers in Atlanta and Detroit, and company executives in El Segundo say they aren’t expecting any technical snafus here. The new service is the result of a joint venture formed last year by MediaOne Group, Time Warner, Microsoft, Compaq and Advance/Newhouse.

Technology and the Internet

Karen Kaplan

Karen Kaplan covers science and medical research for the Los Angeles Times. She has been a member of the science team since 2005, including 13 years as an editor. Her first decade at The Times was spent covering technology in the Business section as both a reporter and editor. She grew up in San Diego and is a graduate of MIT and Columbia University.

MediaOne Upgrades, Renames Net Service

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