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ExciteAtHome to Lay Off 250

PALO ALTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Internet service and content provider ExciteAtHome Corp (NasdaqNM:ATHM - news) Tuesday said it is laying off 250 employees, or about 8 percent of its staff, in a move to refocus on its fast-growing broadband division while cutting costs at its online content divisions.

``We are trying to align our cost structure with our revenue expectations, especially in light of the downturn in online advertising,'' a company spokeswoman said.

ExciteAtHome was formed through the merger last year of the online content service Excite and the broadband service AtHome, which had been two of Silicon Valley's most respected and fastest growing Internet companies.

While the broadband part of that business continues to enjoy rapid growth, the Excite.com portal has been hurt by the downturn in online advertising, the company spokeswoman said.

She said the cuts would not affect the company's AtHome or AtWork divisions, which provide high-speed Internet access over cable lines.

Earlier this month, ExciteAtHome reported that it ended the year 2000 with 2.95 million broadband subscribers, up from 2.31 million in the third quarter.

The job cuts announced Tuesday are the first substantial layoffs for ExciteAtHome, which has about 3,000 employees.

-- (perry@ofuzzy1.com), January 23, 2001