At Home’s Internet Subscribers More Than Doubled Last Year

At Home Corp., the largest U.S. provider of fast Internet service, said it more than doubled its customer base last year to 2.95 million as more people switched to cable modems.

The company, which does business as Excite At Home, narrowly missed its October forecast of 3 million cable-modem subscribers by year-end, up from 1.15 million at the end of 1999. Its customer base increased 28% from the end of the third quarter, company spokeswoman Alison Bowman said.

At Home, controlled by AT&T; Corp., allows users of its service to access the Internet through cable modems at speeds more than 100 times faster than traditional telephone connections. Kits that allow customers to install Excite’s software and wiring themselves helped boost subscriptions in the quarter, Bowman said.

“Getting people online faster drives our subscription revenue, but we don’t make a ton of money on the kits,” Bowman said.

At Home began selling the QuickStart kits, which cost about $30, in RadioShack Corp. stores in November. Before QuickStart, customers had to pay for someone to install the software and wiring, Bowman said. The kits are also sold at Circuit City, CompUSA Inc. and Staples Inc. stores.

Shares of At Home rose $1.16 to $6.63.