Yes your friend needs to set up for an account with Giganews. Through comcast, the service they provide for free is only one gig a month
you can pay for more
here is the email I received from giganews when I signed up with login and password x'd out
> Dear Comcast High-Speed Internet Customer:
>
> Thank you for activating your newsgroups account.
>
> Your news access will allow up to 1 gigabyte of download each month
> from Giganews, the Internet's fastest and most complete news source.
> To access your newsgroups account and to update and maintain your
> account using the online control panel, use the following login name
> and password:
>
> Account Name: xxxxxxxxxxx
> Password: xxxxxxxx
> x - uppercase X
> x - uppercase X
> x - lowercase x
> x - lowercase x
> x - numeral x
> x - lowercase x
>
> You will need to configure your news reader to connect to the news
> server. The server address you should use is:
>
> news.comcast.giganews.com
>
> You will also need to specify that your news server requires you to
> log on and enter your login and password (see above). Both are
> case-sensitive, so enter exactly as they appear above.
>
> Please note: Your newsgroups account will automatically renew each
> month on the same date of your activation notice.
>
> If you reach your 1 gigabyte download limit before the end of the
> month, your account will become inactive until your monthly renewal
> date. You will be notified by e-mail when you have reached 75% of
> your 1 gigabyte monthly download allowance. If you exceed 1 gigabyte
> during a given download, the excess amount will be debited from your
> next month.
>
> Your Giganews Comcast account has a 2 gigabyte per month posting
> limit. If you exceed this limit, posting will be disabled for the
> remainder of the month. Newsgroups reading will not be affected.
>
> As a Comcast High-Speed Internet customer, you are eligible to sign up
> for additional service from Giganews, which includes bonus downloads
> as well as the added benefit of free header retrievals. You can find
> out more about this special account, available exclusively for Comcast
> High-Speed Internet customers, by using the control panel at:
>
> http://comcast.giganews.com/controlpanel
>
> You can also use the control panel to keep your account information
> current, and to keep track of your current download totals.
>
> Comcast only supports newsgroups usage with Outlook Express. To
> configure Outlook Express, follow the instructions below:
>
> 1. Open Outlook Express.
> 2. Click on the Tools dropdown menu and choose Accounts.
> 3. Click the Add button and choose News from the submenu.
> 4. Enter your display name. This is the name that will appear
> in the "From" field when you post a message to a newsgroup.
> Click Next.
> 5. In the "E-mail address" field, enter the e-mail address that
> you want other members to reply to. Click Next.
> 6. Enter the name of the news server (news.comcast.giganews.com)
> and click on the checkbox that asks if your news server requires
> you to log on. Click Next.
> 7. Enter your account name and password exactly as it appears
> above (both are case sensitive). Click on "Remember My
> Password". Leave the checkbox empty that asks if you prefer
> secure password authentication. Click Next.
> 8. Click Finish.
> 9. Close the Internet Accounts dialog box.
>
> If you have questions about setting up news groups, contact Comcast at
> 1 (888) 793-0800
>
> Again, thank you for activating your newsgroups account!
Now... A friend of mine somehow can still connect to ATTBI's news group and get access as ATTBI had free of charge and no limits. He can connect, but I cant, it really sucks as he is also @comcast. Yer friend can try to connect, and if yer friend can they can enjoy no limits
netnews.attbi.com
hope that helps!