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Cable television provider Falcon Communications Thursday teamed up with TCI @Home Network, 3Com, Cisco Systems Inc. and Motorola Inc. to form $20 million a joint venture.

Dubbed @Home Solutions, the venture will offer turnkey, fully managed and comprehensive broadband cable Internet services to small- and medium-sized cable operators and systems.

"Falcon is committed to delivering advanced communications services to the non-urban markets that form the core of our business," said Marc Nathanson, Falcon Communications chairman and chief executive officer.

In a related development, Falcon Communications also announced that the newly formed @Home Solutions and @Home Network will have access to approximately 1.2 million homes in 23 states currently served by Falcon, in order to provide high-speed cable Internet services.

According to Falcon Communications spokesman Art Maulsby, the cable ISP services will be marketed as Falcon@Home and deployment is tentatively scheduled for mid-1999.

Nathanson said Falcon Communications is "excited about being at the forefront of the next generation of communications through our alliance with @Home Solutions. Every citizen in the United States, regardless of the size of the community they live in, should have access to high-speed modems and services."

Falcon Communications is one of the nations largest cable operators solely devoted to providing services to non-urban communities. Falcon Communications currently serves more than 1 million homes with cable access, in more than 800 communities across 24 states.