 prior week when Hindery spoke at Trinity College. After his formal remarks at the college, Hindery was asked about rumors that AT&T and AOL were discussing a deal to give the online service giant enhanced access to its cable lines, perhaps by selling it the Excite Web portal. In response, he used a line he had used once in the past, in a joint appearance with Armstrong. "Absolutely not," he told Reuters. But then he went on to say, "There have been no discus- sions underway whatsoever." It was practically an offhand comment, but it was picked up by Reuters, and the resulting story sent Excite@- Home's share price down when the market opened the next day. The alarm bells in AT&T's Washington office were even louder, however. FCC Chairman Bill Kennard had asked AT&T to try to work out a commercial agreement with Internet service providers (ISPs) to demonstrate that regulatory intervention was unnecessary. The com- pany was working with one of the largest independent ISPs, Mind- Spring, to hammer out just such an agreement, which would go into effect once AtHome's exclusivity expired in mid-2002. And, in fact, it Tough Calls was also talking to AOL about the same deal. Hindery's comment that "there have been no discussions underway whatsoever" was too all- encompassing. Hindery didn't see what all the fuss was about. He knew that AOL would never agree to wait for access to AT&T's cable systems. Besides, he was answering a question about discussions to sell the Excite Web portal to AOL, which was not yet formally on the table. Yes, the lawyers said, but if it ever does becomes an option that we want to pursue, we'll have to announce it because you've ruled it out. To Hindery, this was just another example of staffs ruling the roost at the phone company, which had been one of the themes of his talk to the kids at Trinity College. Later in the day, the company issued an artfully worded statement that essentially said, "Never mind." Under the headline "Internet Strategy Statement" issued "in light of continuing rumors,