EXCLUSIVE: AT&T HomeZone First Look

[Poke]

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Homezone's Walled Garden
Users will only be able to surf AT&T partner content sites?

Posted 2006-06-19 10:18:01
Written by Karl Bode


The Wall Street Journal print edition today reports that AT&T's Homezone, a hybrid satellite receiver, DVR, and broadband driven media-center (using this 2wire box) will be launched next month. AT&T hopes to have the device available in 80% of its broadband market by year's end. This will be AT&T's "stopgap" measure as they deploy "Project Lightspeed."

"After Lightspeed is fully deployed and U-verse is fully deployed, there will be areas that are just not economic to offer fiber everywhere," recently stated AT&T's Homezone managing director Ken Tysell. "Homezone gives us a great product to make available to residential customers in all of the other areas, too. So we are going to coordinate the offer strategy and the rollout strategy between the two."

The service is currently being trialed by some 230 users, mostly AT&T employees. Coming in high-definition and standard-definition versions, the boxes will offer users media sharing, on-demand content (see our Akimbo report), remote DVR programming, and possibly place-shifting Slingbox functionality - if the legal issues can be worked out.

AT&T however won't allow users to browse to just any content, according to the Wall Street Journal:
"While the Homezone set top-box will be connected to the Internet, users won't be able to surf to any Web Site. They will only be able to download content from providers who have made deals with AT&T. In that sense, the service will be like the so-called "walled garden" that America Online tried to create with its Internet service in the 1990s before it was pressured to give its customers access to the open Internet."Dave Burstein, who discusses this via his newsletter, says Verizon's CEO Ivan Seidenberg is a little more friendly to the idea of open content. "We want to get cable out of the house. Telephony and data are our moneymakers, not video, and we’re willing to discuss opening our network," the CEO recently told Burstein.

[ranger714]

Originally Posted by Poke

[B]AT&T however won't allow users to browse to just any content, according to the Wall Street Journal:
"While the Homezone set top-box will be connected to the Internet, users won't be able to surf to any Web Site. They will only be able to download content from providers who have made deals with AT&T.

Ummmm... the box doesn't actually surf the web. it just downloads content from providers, along with allowing users to upload photos and music to the box.

saying that it's locked in a walled garden is like saying that a 622 is locked in a walled garden. apparently the wall street journal can't tell between an internet-equipped satellite receiver and WebTV....

[Poke]

Well I think one of their main points is that you are going to be limited on where you can go on the net. So really it will not be the same as having a regular net connection.

[token]

you still have your normal DSL connection off of it. only your TV downloading/on-demand content is limited to ATT partners.

[grendyl]

I hope this product will be available to fiber-to-the-home at&t internet customers who can't get DSL b/c of no copper lines. IPTV may take forever and it would be good to have something until it comes. Otherwise we'll be stuck in limbo for awhile with neither product available to us.

[Scott Greczkowski]

I think Fiber to the Home is a different product called Project Lightspeed and will be different thenthe HomeZone.

[mtwo]

scott:

Any ideas what markets HomeZone's going to be launched in? I called SBC/AT&T today to inquire about getting the service in Houston.

They really haven't worked out the process yet, but there seem to be departments and contact numbers set up already. I have a call-back scheduled for later today to see if they're going to be able to get me the service.

The person I spoke to mentioned that some areas in California would be starting June 27.

[ChetK]

Originally Posted by mtwo

Any ideas what markets HomeZone's going to be launched in? I called SBC/AT&T today to inquire about getting the service in Houston.

mtwo, did you ever get that callback? What did you find out? I'm in Houston as well.
Thanks!

[dishcomm]

Originally Posted by DWS44

Looks awesome ...shame I'll never get to own one, since no at&t here. Phone & TV BOTH controlled by the same local monopoly.

Ahh yes...Comporium....What a cluster *uck..

[mtwo]

Originally Posted by ChetK

mtwo, did you ever get that callback? What did you find out? I'm in Houston as well.
Thanks!

i got a call today. basically they're not listing houston as one of the cities that's going to have homezone offered as of right now. the person I spoke to was in the tech support/troubleshooting area of the service chain.

it seems like they really don't have everything set up to go yet. he did quote me the 6/27 start date several times, but couldn't give me specifics on where the service would be offered. He said "areas in California and Texas". he said that i could check http://att.sbc.com/gen/landing-pages?pid=3309 on Tuesday for more details.

i guess I threw them kind of off-guard by calling and asking questions, lol.

i was surprised that they did call me back in a timely fashion. hopefully they'll offer the service in Houston soon.