AT&T's (NYSE: T) U-verse added almost 1 million subscribers in 2010 and saw its efforts to increase bundling pay off: about 75 percent of AT&T U-verse customers take some form of triple-play from the company.
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Jeff Weber, VP of U-verse and video products, AT&T |
Jeff Weber, VP of U-verse and video products for the company, told FierceTelecom that 2011 is shaping up as a record year for the platform. Weber said the telco will have 30 million homes in its footprint by the end of the year, and the company will look to roll out additional services and content.
"Tablets are very important with the U-verse TV service and will drive a lot more product innovation. You'll see a lot more from us during the year in that space and adding more and more content to U-verse line," Weber said. "Right now, subscribers can get 23,000 half-hour TV episodes online, and you can control your DVR and manage your settings. Throughout the year, we'll continue to focus on building more value into those existing services and continuing to make them work better and better together both from a content perspective as well as controlling the whole experience."
Weber said the company also will look to continue its expansion of its VDSL2 FTTN network. "We're really comfortable with the technology and the scalability," he said. "Driving costs and making it more efficient is important, but we're really comfortable where we are."
Weber also said the company was working to make sure that "customers get movies a month before you can get them on Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX)," adding "I actually think it's a good thing for us as the world gets more competitive because we're in such a good place competitive place from a product, network, and a capability perspective."
Major concerns for IPTV providers include truck rolls and the cost of installation. Weber said the telco would welcome a self-configuring IPTV device for U-verse TV, but acknowledged that, so far, there isn't a sign of one on the horizon.
"That's going to be an evolution," he said. "Because we're in an all-IP environment, I think we can get there a bit quicker than others. Right now, for any new customer that signs up for U-verse IPTV service, we do an install with a truck and make sure they have they have the right experience."
For more:
- see this FierceTelecom interview
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