New competition for Comcast

AT&T Inc. will roll out its U-verse television service starting today in about 175 towns in the Chicago market, including many Northwest and West suburbs.

The Internet Protocol-based service will be offered alongside its Dish satellite TV, landline and wireless telephone services to compete against Comcast Corp.

But don't expect the different technologies that each company has to offer to match head-to-head, especially when it comes to high-definition TV, said Greg Brewster, associate professor in the School of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Systems at DePaul University.

"AT&T will be using its fiber optics network and then copper lines connected to the home, so you could split your screen to show four TV channels simultaneously, but only one will be HD. Same goes for multiple TVs in the home," said Brewster. "Comcast allows you to have multiple channels all showing HD at the same time because they use a coax cable."

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Despite the technology difference, ATT intends to provide more features and competitively priced packages for up to 384 video and music channels, said Steven D. Mitchell, ATT vice president and general manager of Illinois markets. The service's Web site is uverse.att.com.

"This is about choice," Mitchell said.

And despite the fact only one TV or channel at a time can be high-definition, ATT allows you to record all four different shows at the same time. And with ATT Yahoo, U-verse customers can schedule recordings remotely from any Web-connected PC or compatible ATT mobile phone, Mitchell said.

The service also offers U-Bar, where you can customize the TV screen, just as you would a Web page, and include your favorites or scrolling information.

Monthly TV packages range from $44 to $145, which includes high-speed Internet. HD capability is $10 additional per month.

ATT launched U-verse in Texas about two years ago and has been testing in various markets since. Nationwide, the service has 231,000 subscribers and adds roughly 12,000 weekly. ATT aims to have about 1 million subscribers by the end of this year, Mitchell said.

It so far has about 200 technicians available to handle the Chicago area installations and plans to have as many as 1,100, he said.

Mitchell hopes those numbers will be boosted here, since the company struggled to convince each municipality to let it inside. ATT faced individual meetings with hundreds of towns, often with different standards and approval processes, he said.

Then last June, the Cable and Video Competition Act became state law and allowed ATT to submit its application to the Illinois Commerce Commission to provide its video service. The state agency, which regulates utilities, gave its nod in October. Because new technology has often blurred the lines between telephone companies and multi-media services, the new law offered ATT the chance to compete head-to-head against Comcast.

U-verse has been controversial in many area suburbs because ATT's network upgrade required a lot of work in nearly every town. Wheaton, Wood Dale, Roselle, Geneva, North Aurora, Itasca and Carpentersville were being sued by ATT for preventing it from making the necessary upgrades.

As long as ATT obtains permits and complies with state law, the new service is welcome in Geneva, City Administrator Phil Page said.

"We welcome the competition," Page said.

ATT is providing television service for one reason: Comcast and other cable operators are adding phone subscribers so rapidly that it's only a matter of time before the telephone companies run out of customers. They must remain competitive, said James McQuivey, principal analyst of Television Media Technology for Forrester Research.

"However, in adding IP television service, they (telephone companies) are hoping that they not only can match a Comcast offering but can actually top it by delivering an interactive television environment that only IP-delivered TV can provide," said McQuivey.

That is what U-verse is aiming for -- a high-speed connection to the home that can deliver any conceivable information and entertainment service over the same connection, whether it's adding caller ID to the TV screen or letting you vote on "American Idol" live through your TV, he said.

"If you watch U-verse announcements closely, they all point in that direction, providing services that Comcast will take some time to catch up to using its old cable technology," McQuivey said.