AT&T cable executive resigns

Curt Hockemeier, the AT&T executive responsible for beefing up the company's cable lines to handle phone service, is leaving and will join an unnamed broadband company in the Northeast.

Greg Braden, vice president of digital telephone services for MediaOne, will replace Hockemeier, according to a representative for AT&T Broadband. AT&T is in the midst of acquiring MediaOne.

Hockemeier did not tell executives at AT&T Broadband which company he plans to join, according to the representative. Hockemeier cited family reasons for his departure.

Hockemeier becomes the latest in a string of executives to leave Ma Bell. In October, Leo Hindery Jr., the former chief of Tele-Communications Inc. and appointed AT&T cable head, abruptly resigned. Hindery is now the chief executive of long-distance phone company Global Crossing. And just last month, wireless division president Dan Hesse left AT&T to become chief executive of TeraBeam Networks, a Seattle-based communications start-up.

AT&T Broadband is the telecommunications giant's cable services division. It oversees programming services, high-speed Internet access and local phone service over the company's vast cable network.

Braden's role at MediaOne mirrors Hockemeier's role at AT&T Broadband, the representative said.