Cable Internet provider Excite@Home will face a U.S. Bankruptcy Court decision today, but many UW-Madison students whose service may be affected by the ruling say they are unaware that changes may take place.
Excite@Home filed for bankruptcy Sept. 28 and may be shut down by the court today.
Local high-speed Internet carrier Charter Communications, which connects its Madison customers through @Home service, would still provide customers Internet access through its Pipeline service, said Jo-Ell Teixeria, Charter Communications regional public relations manager.
Teixeria said Charter has sufficiently warned its customers of upcoming changes and has been as direct in communicating with them as it possibly can.
\We've sent out three emails to all subscribers and mailed two postcards along with a CD that includes a personalized user name and password,"" Teixeria said.
However, UW-Madison junior Kristin Brockhaus said she never received any information directly from Charter.
""We've received nothing. I only know of the changes because we were informed of them by my roommate's mother,"" Brockhaus said.
Despite Charter's reassurances, UW-Madison sophomore Stephanie Mueller said she has received little notice of the change.
""We got something in the mail a couple weeks ago about it,"" Mueller said, but she added that she never received the CD for transferring to the Pipeline service.
UW-Madison senior Christopher Chosa, however, said he received at least three or four notices, including the CD, and hasn't had any trouble with the service.
Prior to Charter Communications, Bresnan Communications provided service to the greater Madison area. Bresnan had an exclusive contract in place with Excite@Home, and when Charter acquired Bresnan's Madison-area customers nearly two years ago, it acquired the contract as well. After experiencing service problems earlier this year, Charter cancelled the exclusive contract with Excite@Home, enabling it to provide the Pipeline service to its Madison customers, according to Teixeria.
Teixeria said Charter encourages subscribers to switch over to its Pipeline as soon as possible.
""What does or does not happen to @Home is out of our control,"" Teixeria said. ""We want customers to know that we're doing everything we can. ... We want to make sure [customers] know they have another option.""
For customers who did not receive the installation software, the Charter Pipeline Installer can be downloaded at http://charter.com/installer/, Teixeria said. For questions involving installation or general information, call (866) 227-9649.
