AT&T Changes U-verse Deployment Plans

After repeatedly publicly stating it would deploy its U-verse package in 15 markets by yearend, AT&T Inc. on Friday confirmed it has changed its plan, now saying it will only hit 11 markets.

AT&T on Thursday announced availability of the IPTV-driven offering in San Jose, Calif., and in parts of the San Francisco Bay area – raising the market count to four.

AT&T has kept its deployment plans for the big-ticket service very close to the vest, declining to quantify availability using any metrics in the markets where it’s already available such as San Antonio and Houston.

Less than two weeks ago, AT&T was still shooting for 15 markets by the end of 2006.

“We’re targeting 15 markets this year and are planning to grow that footprint as quickly as we can,” said Jeff Weber, vice president of product and management for AT&T, at the time in an interview with xchange magazine. “We plan to add applications as we go through the first quarter of 2007.”

Asked why the number of deployment markets for this year was shortened, an AT&T spokeswoman said: “We are continuing to fine tune, upgrade, and enhance our IPTV software and other systems based on some key learnings in our initial markets. Our network build and related operational systems remain on-track.”

The telco’s goal is to pass 19 million homes by the end of 2008 with U-verse, which already boasts several hundred standard definition channels of programming, 25 high-definition channels, a digital video recorder offering – accessible via the web – and high-speed Internet access.

In the case of San Jose, AT&T said U-verse services “are initially available in limited areas across the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metropolitan statistical area (MSA), including parts of the cities of Cupertino and Saratoga.”

In the Bay area AT&T said the package is “initially available in limited areas across the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont MSA, including parts of the cities of San Ramon and Danville.”

Customers can choose from five TV and three Internet packages to customize their entertainment experience. Current AT&T U-verse TV offers start as low as $44 per month, depending on the selected programming and Internet packages (other monthly charges apply).

Now through March 31, qualified new customers can join AT&T U-verse and receive free TV service, including HBO and Cinemax, for the first two months when they choose the U300 or U400 programming package. Thereafter, customers will continue to receive recurring monthly discounts when they subscribe to a bundle of TV and Internet service.

In addition, AT&T will offer new customers a 60-day money-back guarantee. Three packages of AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet will be made available to AT&T U-verse customers.

AT&T Inc. www.att.com

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