U-Verse Launched in Houston New VDSL and IPTV services now in two markets As expected, AT&T has announced that their U-Verse IPTV platform has gone live in portions of Houston, Texas, today. This marks the second launch market for the company's TV service & 6Mbps VDSL bundle, which they've promised will go live in 15-20 markets by the end of the year. We expect to see a series of successive launches, as our users are seeing lots of deployment activity, particularly in California. Prices for U-Verse IPTV & DSL bundles range from $74 to $119, with a pricing sheet available here. Users alert us that AT&T has made a change to their pricing scheme, and the monthly rates are no longer promotional. AT&T was criticized during the San Antonio launch for completely omitting what the post-promotion prices would be. The TV service will gobble up all the press, but obviously these packages come bundled with VDSL service as well. We've seen reports of U-Verse gateways syncing at nearly 100Mbps, though we're talking about only 1,400 feet from the DSLAM. Early reports say 25Mbps is working well at distances of 3,000 feet; distances higher than 5,000 feet are where the trouble starts. AT&T is initially offering 6Mbps as their fastest tier and has told us they think that's plenty of bandwidth for the average user. If and when more bandwidth is desired (and we know that won't take long), the company plans on using pair bonding and compression tricks to make it less snug fit. That tight squeeze could get tighter. "As we've said all along, we will launch our HD offering with a single HD stream," says AT&T's Wes Warnock. "Shortly thereafter, we'll enable a second HD stream. When this happens, customers will be able to use 2 streams of HD and still have 2 SD streams to either watch or record.""The promise of the second HD stream is intriguing," opines industry analyst Dave Burstein. "They cannot deliver two live HD and 2 SD streams + DSL + overhead in 20-25 megabits with current encoders without compromising the quality of the HD video."Distance limitations and bandwidth demands will be interesting to watch as deployments light up. Will the company be forced to lay more fiber? Will they be forced to cheat slightly with the quality of HD? Users who have the service, please take a second to offer your impressions in our UVerse forum.
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 cwh
join:2006-05-14
San Antonio, TX | Karl must not have any reading comprehension. -U-verse does not require a contract.
-The advertised rates are the advertised rates. Sales taxes and video recovery fee are extra, just like cable.
-The user that reported the 100meg sync was over 1000 feet VRAD
- No one syncs at less than 25meg. 25meg is the standard connection.
I just recieved the new Moto boxes and new 2wire 3800 VDSL modem. Its max sync speed went up significantly so, range and reach is being improved. | |
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join:2006-05-14
San Antonio, TX | Re: Karl must not have any reading comprehension. And that user was 1400 feet away if you read the thread... | |
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|  DaSneaky1Done wall to block them allPremium,MVM
join:2001-03-29
The Lou
 ·Charter
| Can't edit my previous post...
Also, the U-Verse note reads:
quote:
After the free promotional period expires, you'll continue to receive recurring monthly discounts on your all-inclusive AT&T U-verse service.
Where did Karl mention anything about a contract? Now, who's reading skills are in question?
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:: my trivial ramblings :: | |
| | | cwh
join:2006-05-14
San Antonio, TX | Re: Karl must not have any reading comprehension. said by DaSneaky1D:Can't edit my previous post... Also, the U-Verse note reads: quote:
After the free promotional period expires, you'll continue to receive recurring monthly discounts on your all-inclusive AT&T U-verse service.
Where did Karl mention anything about a contract? Now, who's reading skills are in question? Note these are all introductory offers, and it's nearly impossible to decipher what the bundle packages will cost once the initial contract period is up.
you were saying? | |
| | | | DaSneaky1Done wall to block them allPremium,MVM
join:2001-03-29
The Lou | Re: Karl must not have any reading comprehension. Well, that's two in my face... | |
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| Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
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1 edit | There's no contract. Correct.
The initial report I read said the user syncing at 97Mbps was 100 meters from the DSLAM. I've corrected it to show 1,400 feet.
While the full pipe is 25Mbps, my understanding is the majority of that is reserved for video and only 6Mbps is doled out as useable bandwidth by users. Where are you seeing people reporting 25Mbps being allocated wholly to broadband? | |
| | | cwh
join:2006-05-14
San Antonio, TX | Re: Karl must not have any reading comprehension. said by Karl Bode:There's no contract. Correct. The initial report I read said the user syncing at 97Mbps was 100 meters from the DSLAM. He posted a correction in the discussion.
While the full pipe is 25Mbps, my understanding is the majority of that is reserved for video and only 6Mbps is doled out as useable bandwidth by users. Where are you seeing people reporting 25Mbps being allocated wholly to broadband?
Everyone with u-verse has a vdsl line provisioned at 25meg. This was in response to people are getting 20-25meg at 3000 feet. | |
| | | | | | Re: Karl must not have any reading comprehension. Corrected. "Contract" was used accidentally in place of "promotional period". 100 meters was replaced with 1,400 feet. 20-25Mbps has been corrected to read just 25Mbps.
Thanks! | |
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join:2006-05-14
San Antonio, TX | Re: Karl must not have any reading comprehension. said by Karl Bode:Corrected. "Contract" was used accidentally in place of "promotional period". 100 meters was replaced with 1,400 feet. 20-25Mbps has been corrected to read just 25Mbps. Thanks! The prices listed on the u-verse website are not promotional. They are the prices you pay. They do have current promotions of 2 free months of service for signing up. You would know this if you had read either the press release or the u-verse website. | |
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Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
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4 edits | Re: Karl must not have any reading comprehension. You've changed your fine print recently. What the fine-print used to read:
*Offer subject to change. Quoted monthly price includes AT&T U-verse TV, AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet U-verse Enabled with a 12-month promotional rate, and a $10 bundle discount. >>>>Standard Internet rates apply after 12-month promotional term. 3 Months Free TV Offer expires 7/31/06. Offer applies to TV programming packages U200, U300, or U400 and installation. Customer will be responsible for Video on Demand and Pay Per View charges. Taxes, city video cost-recovery fees, and additional fees extra. No credits for cancellation prior to 90 days of service. New U-verse qualified subscribers only....
Except nowhere was there a mention of what the "standard internet rates" were. If there has been a change making these monthly charges permanent, it's a welcome one.
Thanks for the corrections! (Clearly I have some degree of reading comprehension?)  | |
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social
join:2000-07-19
Saint Louis, MO Reviews:
·Charter
| Hmmmm It sure does not look like AT&T is going to make the 10-15 markets by years end. I am waiting patiently here in St Louis hoping that they come to where I live soon. I would at least try it for 60 days. I know that the suburb I live in here in St Louis has signed an agreement with them to provide the service but just do not know when they will start offering it. | |
| |  morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | Re: Hmmmm keep dreaming, buddy. it ain't gonna happen. | |
| | | | | Re: Hmmmm No way in hell. In fact, I think it's complete bs to say it's available in two markets. In San Antonio CWH has quoted that they have a 10% take rate with 3000 customers. That's 30,000 homes passed. Whats the population of San Antonio?
This latest press release says that it's available in Houston in `limited` areas. Houston metro is 6+ million people. How many people actually have it available there?
My house in The Woodlands sure didn't show up on the site. | |
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| | so what will happen down the road? what will happen when U-Verse reaches its limit on technology with copper? wont that be costly for them in the future? | |
| | | | Re: so what will happen down the road? said by inurenegade:what will happen when U-Verse reaches its limit on technology with copper? wont that be costly for them in the future? fttn/fttc is just a preliminary step to buy time for full blown FTTH
it's more expensive, but FTTH takes much much longer to roll out, so doing it the more expensive way at least helps to insure that you might have customers left by the time you can roll out FTTH | |
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 Kxpuc
join:2004-05-04
Houston, TX | blah meh get some Verizon Fios here so i can get my free upgrade from TWC | |
| |  BorednessThe LurkerPremium
join:2005-07-07
In Limbo
·Comcast
| Re: blah It's called U-vapor to the rest of ATT's markets that won't get it for years or ever. The markets that got it this year will have to deal with first generation VDSL equipment and lots of system bugs. That is the only upside to getting it later is so they can work out most of the bugs and start using VDSL2++ or FTTP.
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Give me a 100% uncapped, unblocked, unthrottled, and stable 100/100 meg symmetrical interweb connection with really low pings to my apartment for cheap and I'll go away! | |
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| | IPTV is N.R.F.P. NOT READY FOR PRIME-TIME. AT&T picture quality will be worse than Charters. But they do show that twisted copper is still alive and will be in the future.
And with advanced schemes being tested in Europe they may be able to offer a few more channels in the future. They need to change there phones over to a VOIP system, so they can use the full potential of a twisted pair.
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"Always in the Need for Speed." | |
|  RickPremium,MVM
join:2001-02-06
Waterbury, CT
1 edit | And so, Let me sum it all up.
After all this time AT&T has apparently now come so far as to be able to say that if you live in parts of San Antonio and Houston that if you live within 1/2 mile of your C/O..r/t or whatever...you should be able to get 6MB internet along with TV service.
What other new inventions will their Bell labs be rolling out soon....toasters?
Ladies and Gents..and employees of AT&T posting here as something else entirely..let me just say that I think we both know that for a next generation service, that is weak at best. Already the cable competition and fios is pushing the boundaries of doubling those kinds of numbers.
And, we also know that often times, AT&T's 6MB service is really a 5.2 MB one in disguise and is already only available to a very limited number of people in comparison to their overall dsl coverage.
And, I think we all know that 2 markets doesn't equal 15 to 20...and that fact spells out that the challenges this company is facing in this rollout must be greater than expected than they have told us.
CWH above bashes Karl for what he claims was his less than stellar reading comprehension but the fact of the matter is Karl was dead on with what HAS been at&t's position apparently up to now in terms of requiring contracts and in their pricing being promotional pricing..without spelling out the after the fact terms.
If that has NOW changed..kudo's to AT&T. They've just made a big step in the right direction and are now doing what cable co's have always done anyway.
But, you can't bash the editor for simply reciting what has ALWAYS been AT&T's stance. Perhaps that goes to a big part of the problem for this company..image and perception of both their pricing schemes in the past as well as how uverse will perform in comparison to the competition.
I can't stress enough the fact that this is AT&T's NEXT generation product. And, this is simply where I see the biggest problems with it and how already, it's one that is struggling versus some of what is out there.
And, they aren't even out of Texas yet with it...much less TWO cities in Texas.
In closing I will state again..I don't work for any cable company..nor have stock in any.
I am not paid for my opinions.
What I am is someone who lives in AT&T territory..and who see's them as the ONLY force that can provide competition to the HUGE monopoly that is now Comcast here and in many places.
Without competition..cable companies are ruthless in their pricing...and raise them at will.
Today..they don't see AT&T as a threat at all apparently..and laugh at their 15 dollar products I guess.
And, why wouldn't they? 768k versus 6~8MB with powerboost is basically nothing.
What we have seen in areas where there is GOOD competition is pricing wars..and service enhancements.
Go look at any verizon fios vs. anyones area to see how that goes.
AT&T..for those of us who have NO other choice but to have them be the telco in our area..MUST stand up to the challenge and MUST respond with a viable product that offers REAL choice and competition.
They are already very far behind the curve because of their refusal over the years to properly invest in their lines. Today..they have a HUGE challenge ahead of them.
And, I'm sorry to say..it seems like such a weak attempt.
I hope I'm wrong..and things change quickly. | |
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