A sampling of the Uverse IPTV menu
The AT&T Uverse DVR, which unfortuantely lacks digital outputs
AT&T prepares to one-up broadband and cable TV providers with fiber services
AT&T
is planning to roll out television and internet services through Fiber to the Node soon to compete with the likes of not only Verizon's FiOS services, but also
with satellite and cable TV/Internet providers and DSL providers. The
service is a two-part package: the first part is a modem for high speed
internet, and the second part is a DVR service for IPTV.
The broadband internet service is a bit subdued, with three tiers: the
Express package with a downstream bandwidth up to 1.5Mbps, a Pro package which
features 3Mbps down, and the Elite option capable of 6Mbps downlink. All tiers
have a 1Mbps upload speed and are each targeted at various types of
users. Unfortunately when compared to the 20+ Mbps from FiOS or the
experimental markets for 20Mbps Comcast HSI, 6Mbps seems sorely inadequate.
The television service will come packaged with broadband internet and will also
come in 3 different packages. The U200+Internet package will start at $69/month
and will feature 100+ channels, up to 3 receivers with 1 being a DVR model, 18
digital music channels, and the video-on-demand feature.
The U300+Internet package will feature 150+ channels, up to 3 receivers with 1
DVR, the 18 music channels and video-on-demand, as well as the movie package
which contains 30+ premium channels including Starz, Encore, Showtime, The
Movie Channel, and FLIX starting at around $89/month.
The top tier, U400+Internet will feature all of the options in the U300 package
plus 25+ more channels, 9 HBO channels, 9 Cinemax channels, and the Sports
Package which will include various channels with sports programming and will
cost customers at least $114/month. An optional fourth receiver can also be
added to each package along with a Spanish channel package.
AT&T's IPTV service will utilize a receiver with a built-in DVR from Tatung
which will allow 80 hours of recordings on the 80GB hard drive. The service
will also support video-on-demand similar to Comcast's On-Demand feature
bundled with their cable TV service. However, AT&T claims there will
also be options to configure the DVR from the internet, remotely as well as other neat options (PDF) that haven't been
incorporated into Windows MCE or TiVo yet. Specifically, and perhaps the
largest advantage in our opinion, is the ability for the Tatung DVR to
broadcast IPTV to other devices on the network -- a feature TiVo and Comcast
are working on, but haven't quite perfected yet. Unfortunately, the
Tatung DVR is also completely outclassed when it comes to high fidelity
outputs. The device has no HDMI or DVI capabilities.
Users will still have the option to add any of the premium programming to the
first two tiers but they will, of course, pay a premium price. There is no word
of high-definition programming on the official website but sources around the internet are saying AT&T will be updating the receivers and
services to support high definition programming in the future.
U-verse is starting to roll out in several areas,
although the largest test market is currently San Antonio, Texas.
"We’re Apple. We don’t wear suits. We don’t even own suits." -- Apple CEO Steve Jobs
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