AT&T weighs deals for Excite@Home stake.

AT&T confirmed Thursday that it is considering possible business deals involving its interest in cable Internet company Excite@Home. The statement follows days of rumors that AT&T was negotiating to sell all or part of its Excite@Home stake. AT&T owns 26 percent of Excite@Home but controls a 58 percent voting stake. The content portion of the company has been in play for some time, according to industry sources, but no one-including Yahoo and Microsoft--has found the Web portal enticing enough as of yet to step forward and take it off AT&T_s hands. Yet AT&T continues to dangle Excite as the key that could allow any potential suitor access to its high- speed cable network, according to sources. That network is considered to be an important component in the future of a high-speed Internet. "Everybody_s been talking for months," one industry source said. "Nobody wants Excite, but they_re willing to take it to get access" to the high-speed network. Publicly, AT&T has offered little insight on any specific plans regarding the portal. "We have periodically explored, and we continue to explore, many alternatives with respect to our Internet strategy and our ownership interest in Excite@Home," the company said in its statement Thursday.