AT&T Boosts U-verse Rollout Tab by $1.4 Billion

[Scott Greczkowski]

(Sorry this was sent to me in an email, I dont have a link to the article.)

AT&T Boosts U-verse Rollout Tab by $1.4 Billion

Scales Back Number of Homes It Will Reach in 2008 by One Million

By Sanford Nowlin, San Antonio Express-News

AT&T Inc. said Monday it will spend up to $1.4 billion more than planned to continue rolling out U-verse, its Internet-based video service, potentially quieting speculation the company is seeking another route into the TV business. The San Antonio-based telecommunications giant will spend up to $6.5 billion by the end of 2008 on U-verse, up from previous projections of just more than $5 billion, according to spokesman Wes Warnock. It's expanding the service to compete with cable rivals such as Time Warner, which have moved into the phone and high-speed Internet business.

"By the additional spending, it's obvious that they're committing to U-verse," said Paul Erickson, telecom analyst for IMS Research in Austin. "It seems to put to rest the rumors that they're looking for another video solution."

AT&T also has scaled back by 1 million the number of homes it expects to reach with the service by the end of 2008, Warnock said.

The company will be able to offer U-verse to 18 million homes across the 13 states that represented its service region before its purchase of BellSouth Corp last year. AT&T once said it would reach 19 million homes by the end of next year.

"We remain very optimistic and aggressive in our rollout of U-verse," Warnock said. "We feel very good about it."

Warnock said the company expects to incur the additional expense in purchasing more video servers, the equipment that allows the company to add high-definition channels and features.

AT&T expects to revise its U-verse coverage numbers upward in a matter of weeks, Warnock said. The company will announce plans to expand the video service into former BellSouth territory, mainly the Southeastern U.S.

The spending follows a rough patch for AT&T as it worked to iron out service and technical glitches with the fledgling video service.

Late last year, the company temporarily put the brakes on its rollout so it could deal with service problems. During that time, industry observers speculated the company might look for another way into the video business — buying a satellite TV provider, for example.

Since then, however, the company has resumed its expansion, bringing the service to 18 markets, including Milwaukee and Los Angeles. The company now has more than 20,000 subscribers and is capable of reaching up to 2.8 million homes with U-verse.

 

[rad]

OK, so they're spending more and getting less? Maybe one day someone down in San Antonio will wake up and smell the copper burning? IMHO, their orginal U-verse degisn was short sighted and continues to be. Too bad Ed will be collecting all his retirement money soon so they can't fire him over this mess.

 

[Brewer4]

This is so typical of Corporate America. They are going to spend billions on a flawed method, continue to downgrade their numbers, and continue to be disappointed by new accounts. At what point do you realize its a bad idea? Of course the thing will end in a mess with the eventual discovery that buying a sat provider was a better use of capital. The CEO will get bounced by the board with a golden parachute of millions and the board holding billions in debt and now forced to buy a sat if any are left.

I don't disagree that video cant be delivered on the ground but the use of copper was just a bad idea. Even if this thing works well, it cant do more then 2 HD streams. That may have been fine 4 years ago but the future is HD and 2 is not going to cut it. I like Verizon's plan of fiber to home. That is designed for the future. It costs more but it really has some pretty good thought embedded.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Ok the problem I see here the Uverse Project is CONSTANTLY going to need to be upgraded to compaire with other technologies.

Look at it now, it can only handle 1 HD Channel at a time. To get more then must upgrade their technology, and its not just some switch they will need to flip, major upgrades will need to be done at each VRAD unit. And they must do this at every location where they hav a VRAD.

As they turn on new areas each area has HUNDREDS of VRAD units, so the bigger they grow, the more upgrading they will need to do.

They are planning on having 3 HD streams into the home by the end of the year, while thats a good start, its not good enough. There are many other there like me who have 4 or 5 HDTV's in their home.

AT&T should HALT the UVERSE project, and bite the bullet and go Fiber to the home. Sure its more expensive, but its something they need to do once, instead of having the upgrade things a few times a year in each area they serve.

 

[rad]

AT&T should HALT the UVERSE project, and bite the bullet and go Fiber to the home. Sure its more expensive, but its something they need to do once, instead of having the upgrade things a few times a year in each area they serve.

Strongly agree, but then management would have to admit that they made a bad decision, that's not going to happen.

 

[Brewer4]

They are planning on having 3 HD streams into the home by the end of the year, while thats a good start, its not good enough. There are many other there like me who have 4 or 5 HDTV's in their home.

They say 3 but you had it and do you think they can pull off 2? I dont think the chosen technology will do 3. I may be wrong but I would put the challenge on them to prove it. And not one test house but extended neighborhoods.

 

[intel]

How close to a neighborhood or home do they go with fiber?