AT&T Amps Up Cash-Back Incentives for U-Verse

Provider Also Pushes Free Installation, TV Service

AT&T Inc. (T) is more aggressively marketing its triple-play bundle as it works to lure subscribers to its U-verse package. The telco TV marketing race is growing ever more intense and AT&T has upped the ante – it’s offering a maximum of $200 cash back and waiving installation fees.

The $200 offer applies to select U-verse TV and Internet bundles; that incentive also comes with a free month of television service. The cash-back amount for other packages – some of which include wireless service – totals $50 and provides free installation.

U-verse reaches about 50 markets within AT&T’s 22-state territory. The carrier this week reported its best-ever customer add period – 170,000 new subscribers signed up for U-verse in the second quarter of this year, beating the previous record of 144,000 in the first quarter.

Marketing-wise, AT&T hopes that finishing the rollout of two concurrent HD streams in the third quarter and launching multiroom DVR service by year’s end will help fuel adoption of its TV-driven bundle.

In the meantime, however, both AT&T and telco TV provider Verizon Communications Inc. Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ)  have been making broader use of incentives, beyond device giveaways, and are more assertively promoting them through high-profile TV ads and direct mail. Cash-back deals – also used by some large cable providers – and discount coupons target consumers’ wallets as the economy worsens and prices for countless goods continue to rise. Limited movie package giveaways also are common, but providers view those more as enticements because there’s no guarantee customers will start paying after the free access ends.

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