Pressure From DSL Prompts Downgrade

Salomon Smith Barney Inc. cable analyst Niraj Gupta downgraded the entire cable sector to "marketweight" from "over-weight," citing fears of a price war with phone-based high-speed Internet services. Last Monday, Gupta said in a report that big phone companies are likely to bundle digital subscriber line high-speed connections with local phone service, possibly resulting in pricing pressure for one of cable's profit leaders.