AT&T's U-verse enters two more markets

AT&T launched its IPTV service, U-verse, in two more markets yesterday: Milwaukee and Racine, Wisconsin. That brings the operator's total to 13 markets equipped with U-verse services, which is a far cry from the 8 million homes CEO Ed Whitacre claimed will have access to U-verse by the end of 2007. The company says only 7,000 people nationwide have signed up for the service so far, despite the operator's promotional efforts like two months of service (including HBO and Cinemax) for free. The 13 markets don't even measure up to the original deployment goal for year-end 2006, which aimed for 15 markets with U-verse availability.

The slow rollout has long been blamed on Microsoft's middleware not being up to snuff, but AT&T tried to assuage these long held claims by announcing Tuesday that the operator is ready to take its "foot off the brake and step on the accelerator."

For more on AT&T's U-verse rollout:
- see this article from the AP

ALSO: AT&T says a VDSL standard is needed and defended its choice of HPNA. Article

PLUS: Microsoft to demo its XBox-IPTV functionality next month at London's Connected Home Show. Big news for show-goers, because Microsoft rarely demos its IPTV middleware: It wasn't present at last year's TelcoTV, for example. Article