Re: Customers slow to tune into AT&T's and Verizon's TV over fiber

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: May 12, 2007 8:51:48 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: lauren () vortex com
Subject: Re: [IP] Customers slow to tune into AT&T's and Verizon's TV  
over fiber


Dave,

I've been watching the AT&T deployment here in my location (suburban
L.A.) over a number of months.  First, they were out at least six
days a week pulling fiber through manholes off the usual giant reels,
all over the place.  Then crews came by with portable test gear
apparently for an initial check.  Next, contractors started digging
up the sidewalk near existing junction "B"-boxes, and crews moved
in and installed a similar looking green box next to the originals,
so double the eyesore, in that respect.  And double the target I
suppose, like the time not so long ago when a driver sheared off the
B-box serving me, with predictable nasty results (I heard the
thud, too).  Photo on request.

My hunch is that the cable companies are going to win out in this
aspect of a very expensive battle.  The physics of their already
in-place very broadband physical plant are with them.  Running new
fiber to the home like Verizon is doing is extremely expensive, even
in non-underground-utility areas.  Underground is even more
expensive.  AT&T's fiber to the terminal technique means that every
channel being watched in a home needs a data stream over relatively
limited copper bandwidth, and in underground situations adding more
pairs can also be very expensive.

It's hard to see how the cable co's can lose on this one, unless
they do something really stupid in terms of pricing or the like,
which given their track history is admittedly not impossible.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
   - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
Founder, CIFIP
   - California Initiative For Internet Privacy - http://www.cifip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com

 - - -

> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
> Date: May 10, 2007 1:34:35 AM EDT
> To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Customers slow to tune into AT&T's and
> Verizon's TV over fiber
>
> Customers slow to tune into AT&T's and Verizon's TV over fiber
> Information Week
> By. W. David Gardner
>
> Both AT&T and Verizon have been utilizing fiber optic cabling to
> bring TV to customers' home and to compete with cable companies.
>
> AT&T is getting some bad news on its U-verse TV system: Not only is
> it costing $1.4 billion more than anticipated to install, but the
> company's decision to use copper for the final leg into customers'
> homes is being called into question.
>
> AT&T said it will spend as much as $6.5 billion to deploy the TV
> service by 2008, and the company also cut the number of homes the
> service will initially serve by 1 million, according to a report in
> Tuesday's Wall Street Journal.
>
> <http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?
> articleID=199400174>
>
>
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