AT&T’s Alternative (to) U-Verse
Homezone Will Be Satellite-Delivered Interactive Option
By Karen Brown 5/8/2006

Listen closely to the drumbeat as AT&T Inc.’s Project Lightspeed and U-verse TV service march toward rollout and you will pick up another rhythm steadily building in the background.

That rhythm is coming from Homezone, AT&T’s alternate strategy to deliver interactive and on-demand TV services. A technological marriage of Internet video and content to linear satellite-TV programming, Homezone gives AT&T a much wider reach than what it plans for U-verse. The telco plans to extend the Lightspeed network to 18 million of its 36 million customer territory, leaving half of its potential subscribers outside of the U-verse.

Enter Homezone, which can extend to 80% of potential subscribers.

NO BOOBY PRIZE

AT&T is not positioning Homezone as a consolation prize, but rather as an interactive offering in its own right, with features such as digital video recording, on-demand video downloads, personal photo storage and the ability to program the recorder remotely.

AT&T started testing the service in December with about 100 users.

That trial was expanded last week to 230 users. These include employees of AT&T and technology partners 2Wire Inc., Movielink LLC, Yahoo Inc. and EchoStar Communications Corp. spread throughout the former SBC Communications Inc.’s 13-state territory.

The Homezone hardware supplied by 2Wire consists of MediaPortal digital subscriber line modem and a Homezone receiver, a satellite box 2Wire developed with EchoStar. The two are linked by either Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet connections.

The Homezone receiver comes in high-definition and standard-definition versions. Each comes with a digital video recorder with a hard drive ranging from 250 Gigabytes to 320 GB, depending on the model the customer selects, according to Arthur Cinader, 2Wire’s director of product management.

With that, customers can watch standard linear satellite TV through EchoStar’s Dish Network direct-broadcast satellite service and have access to a raft of content and services supplied by the DSL line. Content includes more than 1,000 on-demand video titles provided by Movielink.

AT&T also struck a deal with Internet video provider Akimbo Systems Inc. to tap its 10,000-title library of video and independent films that will be added to the service later this year.

Through Yahoo, AT&T’s resident digital subscriber line Internet-service provider, Homezone users will be able to tap movie listings, personal photos stored on Yahoo servers and access to LaunchCast Radio via the set-top box.

They also can listen to music files and view personal photos stored on their home computer systems, and they can program that DVR from any Internet-connected computer outside the home.

AT&T also is looking at the possibility of adding a feature that would allow customers to watch their TV service remotely via a computer outside the home, along the lines of a Sling Media Inc.’s Slingbox. But it also is aware of concerns about protecting copyrighted content and how it moves from one device to another.

“It’s a pretty neat feature, and I think the response to the Slingbox device has been very positive,” Homezone managing director Ken Tysell said. “But I think it creates a lot of issues among the rights holders.”

But there are limits to just how computer-like HomeZone is. Although it does provide TV display of incoming caller ID and the ability to access and e-mail photos stored on the box hard drive, you won’t see e-mail messages presented on the TV screen. AT&T decided the TV set was not best suited as a de facto big-screen computer.

“That was a huge debate we had some number of months ago — is a television set sitting in your living room that you use with a 10- or 15-foot interface the right experience that most customers want to interact with e-mail?” Tysell said. “For this initial version of the HomeZone service we haven’t built in capabilities to enable people to access their e-mail.”

FOCUSED ON THE TRIAL

For now, AT&T is focusing on the expanded trial under way to test out all of the systems needed to field the service, including the installation, provisioning, billing and customer care.

It also is testing how the features work “to really run it through its paces with a larger user base, as people are going in and using the linear television service from Dish and the DVR and the program guide, to make sure it is as robust and working the way we want it to,” Tysell said.

If all goes as planned, AT&T will launch Homezone in late summer — roughly the same time frame as it plans to move U-verse to an expanded market launch.

“And then, even after Lightspeed is fully deployed and U-verse is fully deployed, there will be areas that are just not economic to offer fiber everywhere,” Tysell said. “Homezone gives us a great product to make available to residential customers in all of the other areas, too. So we are going to coordinate the offer strategy and the rollout strategy between the two.”

Aditya Kishore, Yankee Group’s director of media and entertainment strategies, said that might also help AT&T avoid accusations of red-lining — the practice of offering services only in more affluent areas while avoiding lower-income customers.

“I think that actually makes perfect sense and it is a pretty logical marketing strategy,” he said. “You do not want to go out and say, 'We can do this, just not in your neighborhood.’ ”

REASONS TO BE QUIET

But while Homezone does dovetail with the U-verse IPTV service, the Bell operator could face problems when people inevitably compare the two, according to Greg Ireland, IDC Corp.’s research manager for consumer video markets.

“The trouble, I think, is that AT&T has so much invested in Project Lightspeed, and the partnerships with the satellite guys have been viewed of as sort of this stop-gap, that AT&T is in a tough position,” he said. “How do they promote the cool stuff that’s going on with Homezone, but not do it in a way that suggests that they are not 100% focused on Lightspeed?”

That could be one reason AT&T has not played up the service to analysts and the press, he noted.

Another reason might be a concern that investors would see Homezone as a way to offer on-demand, interactive TV and high-speed data elements without the costly Lightspeed buildout.

“It would give them essentially the most advanced set-top platform in the business,” Ireland noted. “You are going to be the only ones out there able to offer this integration of traditional broadcast content and with Web based services, all within the living room.”

Tysell insists Homezone is not a stop-gap offering ahead of U-verse. And it isn’t clear yet whether Homezone customers will be encouraged to move over to the all-IPTV U-verse service if Lightspeed comes to their neighborhood.

“Obviously there is the subscriber acquisition cost for putting a Homezone service into their living room and activating it and getting them up and working, and if you upgrade them subsequently to U-verse there is an additional cost,” he pointed out. “We may still go down that path. I don’t think we’ve finalized anything yet but that’s certainly under discussion.”

While Homezone does extend AT&T’s TV service reach, U-verse does offer a stronger revenue potential for the telco.

“In U-verse we obviously have a lot more control over that whole experience and the economics associated with it, with revenues,” Tysell said. “So there are a lot of benefits to the U-verse model that aren’t there for Homezone.”

Kishore, agreed, adding that with Homezone, AT&T also doesn’t have control over the programming lineup or the video packages Dish chooses to offer.

“You are dealing with another company with its own set of objectives and its own plans, and a larger business vision,” Kishore said. “So it leaves neither of them fully integrated or fully satisfied. And there always is that danger of getting in a fight.”

ADDING CONTENT

For now, AT&T is looking to expand the content offered through Homezone, particularly in the on-demand content library. It also is looking to add mobile remote access to the box DVR, giving users the ability to set up a program recording with a Cingular Wireless handset.

It also may add some casual gaming applications to the Homezone box, although Tysell is quick to say AT&T is not looking to rival Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox or Sony’s PlayStation gaming consoles.

“I think we are actively working to find the right applications for the living room environment, which we acknowledge is different from a home office environment and the appliances that live in that environment,” Tysell said. “So I think we are just trying to find the right content for the right device, or the larger, three-screen strategy.”

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6332081.html

AT&T's new Hi-Def Homezone box

Posted May 23rd 2006 8:00AM by Ben Drawbaugh
AT&T Homezone

Engadget reported last month about AT&T's new Homezone IPTV service which is meant to help them compete with the cable companies. The service is basically DISH Network, movie downloads from Movielink, misc programming from Akimbo, and DVR functionality in a single 2Wire-built box. Thanks to a great tipster we now have some great pictures as well as some interesting specs which were also shared with our friends over at Engadget.

2Wire's latest HD box includes all the home networking goodness and connections any HD lover could want and combines it with some interesting new services. The STB is a DISH DVR with dual tuners and two room support, but also allows you to watch Movielink movies, enjoy Yahoo Photos (Flickr?) and Akimbo shows. As compared to previous models it will now include HDMI and maybe even WM9 and WiFi; we should know more when it's officially announced.

The remotes are the most interesting and yes, there are two of 'em. One is for the main room which is IR and the second room (nope, no HD for them) is RF. The interesting part is that they have a keyboard on them like some PDAs. Love them or not, they will come in handy with all the interactive content.

If AT&T gets to this to market in July, they could be the first to pull off this convergence thing we have all been hearing so much about.

http://www.hdbeat.com/2006/05/23/atandts-new-hi-def-homezone-box/

Thanks for posting a link to my post!

thank you for the article and great photos!

Competition: AT&T’s Backup Plan Gets a Workout

AT&T's Homezone could become a primary weapon against cable should Lightspeed get bumped by a bandwidth crunch.

By Simon Applebaum

AT&T's plans for its Project Lightspeed Internet-protocol-based network have certainly grabbed headlines. But Lightspeed could end up being a big fake-out--though perhaps an unintentional one. Homezone could prove to be the more viable video/high-speed service.

SUMMER LOVIN'? AT&T's Homezone set-top integrates Dish programming, music/photo downloading services and Web-based movies. AT&T will test it with employees in 13 states this summer.

This summer, AT&T begins testing Homezone, which integrates EchoStar's Dish Network channel lineup, DVR service, caller ID on the TV, content from Movielink and Akimbo, and photo and music downloading, says Ken Tysell, AT&T's director of broadband applications. Customers will also be able to log on to their Homezone receiver remotely through a Web browser or wireless phone. Rollout, pricing and promotion plans for Homezone's late summer premiere are being kept under wraps.

San Francisco-based ThinkEquity Partners believes Homezone, not Project Lightspeed, will ultimately pose the greater threat to cable's market share. In a note to clients, ThinkEquity predicted AT&T would scale back Lightspeed because of the immense bandwidth required to make it competitive.

Oppenheimer & Co. cable analyst Thomas Eagan claims AT&T has concerns about Lightspeed's viability, despite promises the venture will pass 18 million homes by 2008. "Call [Homezone] a cheaper experiment" that can mushroom quickly into a bigger deal if Lightspeed can't hit its deployment deadlines, Eagan says.

Homezone "is a reminder that cable's competition isn't going to stand still" while operators promote triple- and quad-play bundles, says Sanford C. Bernstein cable/DBS analyst Craig Moffett.

Tysell of AT&T insists Homezone is neither a replacement for Lightspeed nor a stopgap measure. "Homezone can work for rural areas where it doesn't make economic sense to build fiber to the home," he says.

Assuming the tests don't tank, cable operators could exploit Homezone's confusing billing system: Customers would have to be both Dish Network and AT&T DSL subscribers before they can get Homezone. Cable marketers might find success in characterizing Homezone as a typical Frankenstein's monster-type product from a telco.

http://www.cableworld.com/cgi/cw/show_mag.cgi?pub=cw&mon=052906&file=competitionatts.htm

Telecom battle for your living room heats up
AT&T targets cable services with bundled phone, video, Internet package
By Jerry Cobb, Reporter, CNBC

Updated: 3:02 p.m. PT June 20, 2006
LOS ANGELES - Starting next month, AT&T's high speed Internet customers will be able to watch satellite TV from the Dish Network, download movies from movielink.com and watch them on TV, on demand. The service, dubbed Homezone, is the latest salvo in the ongoing battle between the phone and cable companies for control of your living room.

"For a certain class of customers, the ability to look at video on their television set that's coming from the internet will create a new kind of experience, something they haven't been able to do before," said Josh Bernoff, an analyst who follows the television industry at Forrester Research.

Like other phone companies, AT&T is playing catch up with the cable companies, which have been offering customers a so-called "triple play" of phone, television and Internet service. Satellite companies are also scrambling to stay competitive, but their technology can't deliver phone service or video on demand.

"They cannot offer the bundle, they cannot offer the triple play,” said Adi Kishore, director of media and entertainment strategies at Yankee Group. “And partnering with a telco makes sense in the short term. Long term, though, we know the phone companies are rolling out services over their own networks. So eventually they're going to be competing with their current partners."

Homezone is just part of AT&T's broader strategy to deliver bundled services to consumers. The phone giant is also spending more than $4.5 billion dollars on Project Lightspeed, a new high-speed network to carry voice, video and Internet traffic.

“For them to be able to match cable is going to take a pretty significant investment in their networks (and) in their infrastructure,” said Kishore. “And it's also going to take time."

Project Lightspeed is expected to reach 19 million homes by the end of 2008. In the meantime, AT&T hopes to give cable operators a run for their money with its Homezone service, which should be available to about 80 percent of its customers by the end of the year.

URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13437704/
video at link above

Although there are some potentially cool features with Homezone, it just doesn't seem like something I would go for. With Verizon nowhere in site in my area, this and Project Lightspeed are what I have to look forward to. There has to be more in this to switch from my 8 meg cable connection to DSL, and switch from D* to E*. It's just not worth it.

AT&T launches Homezone TV, Net service
By Reuters
http://news.com.com/AT38T+launches+Homezone+TV%2C+Net+service/2100-1034_3-6095772.html
Story last modified Tue Jul 18 22:33:36 PDT 2006

U.S. phone company AT&T said Wednesday it began marketing its AT&T Homezone, a long-awaited service that combines high-speed Internet and satellite television in one set-top box.

Homezone, which offers digital video recording, movies on demand, photo- and music-sharing, and Web-based remote access, is initially available in Ohio and San Antonio, Texas, ahead of a broader launch in coming months.

The new service comes as phone companies like AT&T and Verizon Communications launch various product bundles to compete against rival cable companies' all-in-one offerings of video, voice and Internet services.

Homezone is meant to be an alternative to AT&T's Web-based television service U-Verse, which runs on fiber optic networks, for customers who live in areas without fiber deployment, said AT&T spokesman Fletcher Cook.

AT&T has not announced any targets for Homezone sales.

It is aiming for 19 million U-Verse customers by 2008. U-Verse offers more capacity for quicker downloads with interactive capabilities, and is already available in San Antonio, where the company's headquarters are located.

AT&T's satellite TV partner is EchoStar Communications.

Homezone will be available at various prices depending on features such as long-distance calling, channels and Internet speed. Bundled packages will cost around $80-$140 per month, versus the $70 to $120 per month for the U-Verse bundle, a spokesman said.

The big questions:

1) does it support mpeg4 and fake mpeg4?

2) The ViP622 has and ethernet port to support 'future functionality', whats the difference here?

3) Isn't this thread likely to get moved to the "HD reception hardware" or "recorders" forum?


inquiring minds want to know...

heres the official site...

http://www.sbc.com/gen/general?pid=7910&DCMP=att_homezone


New subscribers only, so far...

AT&T makes deal for DSL video content

As fiber-based carrier networks for voice, data and video in the U.S. creep forward, AT&T Inc. announced Tuesday it has made a deal with Akimbo Systems Inc. to provide video on demand through a combined DSL (digital subscriber line) and satellite TV service.
[AT&T makes deal for DSL video content]

As fiber-based carrier networks for voice, data and video in the U.S. creep forward, AT&T Inc. announced Tuesday it has made a deal with Akimbo Systems Inc. to provide video on demand through a combined DSL (digital subscriber line) and satellite TV service.

The national wireline carrier is already planning a "fiber-to-the-node" service that would compete with rival Verizon Communications Inc.'s Fios TV "fiber-to-the-home" network. But as an early "triple play" offering of voice, video and data, it is now in trials with Homezone, a TV service that combines AT&T Yahoo High Speed Internet and AT&T Dish Network TV programming. Homezone includes video on demand, digital video recording and digital photos and music via a special set-top box. Live TV programming will come over Dish Network's satellite service while video on demand will be delivered via DSL.

The deal with Akimbo will let AT&T offer the San Mateo, California, company's video content, which will be offered as part of the Homezone service.

Akimbo has more than 10,000 movies and TV shows from more than 165 content partners worldwide, according to an AT&T statement. Homezone subscribers will have access to an online guide with a video search function and will be able to use it remotely from any Internet-connected computer. From the remote computer, they'll be able to browse and download programs so they're available at home for viewing later.

AT&T has said Homezone is scheduled for launch this summer, meaning that it will probably arrive sometime between June and August. The Akimbo video on demand will be available shortly after that launch, according to AT&T spokesman Wes Warnock. Movielink LLC will also be a source of video on demand on Homezone, he said.

The carrier is building a high-speed network called Project Lightspeed that brings fiber to nodes within neighborhoods. Its U-verse service, which will offer services including IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) over that infrastructure, is currently in a controlled market entry in AT&T's home city of San Antonio, Texas, he said.

Also on Tuesday, Verizon said its Fios TV service is available immediately in parts of Plano, Texas. About one-third of the 65,000 Plano households served by Verizon can sign up for the service now, the company said in a statement. Fios TV is now available in 17 suburbs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and by the end of the year it will be offered to about one-third of Verizon's Texas customers, the company said.

http://www.pcwelt.de/news/englishnews/NetworkingTelecommunication/136026/

AT&T Expands Homezone to San Diego

By Steve Donohue 8/17/2006 7:25:00 AM

AT&T said Thursday that it launched its Homezone DSL-DBS hybrid product in San Diego.

Homezone, which debuted earlier this year in Ohio and San Antonio, Texas, features a bundle of DSL branded AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet and pay TV service from Dish Network.

AT&T plans to market Homezone primarily in markets that it hasn’t wired for its U-verse fiber-delivered pay TV service.

In addition to high-speed Internet service and Dish Network programming, Homezone customers have access to Yahoo services such as AT&T Yahoo! Photos and AT&T Yahoo! LaunchCast radio. Subscribers can also manage their digital video recorders through a Web browser.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6363432.html?display=Breaking+News

EchoStar, AT&T team up for Homezone service

Offering pairs Web with satellite-TV in market share battle

By Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News
October 6, 2006

EchoStar wants to be one of the first companies out of the gate in the land rush for a spot in the much-ballyhooed digital living room.

EchoStar and phone company AT&T in July launched Homezone, a service that combines satellite-TV service provided by EchoStar's Dish Network with Internet content.

The service is one of the first mass market attempts to marry Internet video, which has taken off with the popularity of sites such as YouTube, with a pay-TV service.

There's also another business strategy at play. Homezone is an attempt to plug a gap for EchoStar, whose satellite technology doesn't let subscribers access "video on demand" content that cable rivals like Comcast have used to lure customers. AT&T, meanwhile, sees Homezone as a way to reach customers in areas the telco hasn't or can't reach with its fledgling video service.

For both companies, "Homezone is an effort to put together a facsimile of cable without investing in the whole thing," said Peter Shapiro, a principal at cable and telecom research firm PDS Consulting.

The venture also deepens the relationship between Douglas County- based EchoStar and AT&T, which invested $500 million in the satellite provider in 2003 and has resold Dish service for four years.

Homezone, which launched in San Diego, Ohio and AT&T's hometown of San Antonio as a test, still has a way to go before it can rival cable's on-demand capabilities, analysts said. Homezone currently features about 1,000 movies provided by Movielink, the online film service, which subscribers can download for $1.99 to $4.50 each.

Later in the year, Homezone will add content collected by Akimbo, with more than 13,000 titles, including clips from MLB.com and BBC. AT&T spokeswoman Amanda Ray said the company is in talks to add more content.

That restricted access to the Internet means customers can't use Homezone to roam MySpace on their living room TVs. And due to limited Internet speeds, movie downloads can take as long as two hours.

EchoStar points out that the Internet video is just one aspect of the Homezone service, which also acts as a dual-room digital video recorder. Subscribers can use it to share photos on the big screen, play computer music files on home theater speakers and log onto the Internet from anywhere to schedule DVR recordings.

"It fits with today's on-the-go lifestyles," said Stacey Shepard, program manager for EchoStar.

Eventually, the service will let customers program their DVRs from Cingular cell phones and buy movie tickets with a TV remote. Future set-top boxes will be compatible with EchoStar's PocketDish portable media player and offer high-definition signals.

AT&T won't disclose how many customers have signed up for Homezone, Ray said. Analysts are skeptical that it will be a mainstream hit - or if there even can be a mainstream hit in today's fragmented media market.

"Broadband penetration is up to 84 million, and that's had a huge impact on how people like to consume entertainment," said Natasha Leger, a partner at Denver-based consulting firm ITF Advisors. "There are so many platforms it's increasingly difficult to predict."

Homezone at a glance

• What is it: Homezone is a set-top box that lets EchoStar subscribers see Dish Network content as well as download movies from the Movielink service. Customers also can listen to music, share photos and schedule DVR recordings via the Internet.

• Where it's available: Ohio, San Antonio and San Diego for test launch. The service eventually will be available in other AT&T service areas, but not in Colorado.

• Cost: $9.99 a month, plus customers must subscribe to a minimum of EchoStar's America's Top 60 service at $29.99 and AT&T's Express 1.5 Mbps Internet service at $19.99 a month.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5046219,00.html

SAN ANTONIO - Jan. 2, 2007 AT&T raised the video stakes today, announcing 12 months of AT&T | DISH Network service at no charge when customers add key AT&T services and commit to a two-year term for the entire bundle.

AT&T Offers Free DISH Network Service (http://detroit.dbusinessnews.com/shownews.php?newsid=101727&type_news=latest)

AT&T Homezone TV Offering Lacks HD Capabilities
02/02/2007
Bob Wallace

Consumers considering AT&T Inc.’s widely available Homezone video-driven bundle, which includes TV programming for satellite provider DISH Network, will not be able to view high-definition (HD) programming until sometime later this year, AT&T said Friday.

At present, the in-home device made by 2Wire Inc. that’s used to access the offering is not capable of handling HD, leaving subscribers of the service with only standard-definition (SD) programming, which is generally less enjoyable.

AT&T has been slowly deploying its landline-based video bundled U-verse, which is now available in parts of 11 markets. It features many channels in HD, with more to come as the telco advances the offering.

Homezone, however, is now available to its broadband users across its 14-state territory, and in Connecticut, which was announced Thursday. But customers looking to sign up and cash in on a rebate for the 2Wire home gateway are learning, to their surprise, that HD isn’t on the menu.

It’s certainly not for lack of HD programming from DISH Network, which claims to offer more than 200 hours a day of HD programming from top news, sports and movie channels.

One xchangemag.com reader and HD TV owner, who requested anonymity, had the following to say about the service’s shortcoming:

“I just called AT&T to get set up on the service. In essence, to use HomeZone through my primary TV (which is HD) I would only get the programming in standard broadcast, not in HD,” said the surprised potential customer.

“To get HD programming, you need a separate box that is NOT part of Homezone,” he added. “In my opinion, the system is a half-baked until they can integrate HD.”

With the allure of programming in HD and falling price for HD and HD-capable TV sets, combined with the upcoming NFL Super Bowl and other professional sports, AT&T will likely face challenges signing up users for Homezone.

Asked if the service featured HD programming, and with its executives well-aware of its appeal, an AT&T spokesman said, “We see HD as an important component in our offering and plan to launch an AT&T Homezone HD DVR receiver sometime later this year to allow customers to take advantage of the many HD channels offered through DISH Network.”

AT&T did not say specifically when this will happen, what the box will cost or what it will mean to current Homezone users with the 2Wire device.

http://www.xchangemag.com/articles/537/72h29125323332.html

New article posted by fredfa in the Hot off the Press thread several hours ago, where an investment analyst thinks AT&T may buy E* later this year:

http://www.cable360.net/business/22081.html

The story quotes the analyst as saying that AT&T may eventually use E* primarily as an HD distribution platform, freeing up their fiber network for broadband access.

AT&T's new 'Homezone' option allows customers to record movies from phone

(Beaumont Enterprise, The (Texas) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Mar. 16--Officials with two Southeast Texas telecommunications companies avoided direct statements, but their competition for customers officially became a bit more heated Thursday.

AT&T Corp. formally introduced "Homezone," an integrated technology-based service option for Southeast Texas customers.

The addition means increased competition amid stomping grounds that once belonged by default to Time Warner Cable. As the telecommunications companies compete, consumers could reap rewards -- lower prices.

For about $10 per month on top of other services, AT&T customers with high-speed Internet access now can remotely record television programs and download movies and music from any computer or their cell phone, said Eriic Harris, AT&T senior manager for Southeast Texas.

Harris said the appeal for systems like Homezone is the convenient packaging.

The San Antonio-based telecommunications company calls it the "three-screen approach" -- packing computer, digital television and cell phone technologies into wireless handsets.

People generally are excited about advances in those media, and merging them together helps AT&T become more of an entertainment company, Harris said.

"We are a society who loves whiz-bang gadgets and features now," Harris said.

AT&T first introduced Homezone to the area in November and added local channels to the package by mid-December, Harris said.

AT&T only now has begun to market the program in Southeast Texas. Harris wouldn't say how many subscribers now use the system, but said that Homezone has had good reception in the area.

"Prior to that, if you wanted local channels, you only had one choice," Harris said.

To the other "choice" -- Time Warner -- general manager Mike McKee said AT&T's Homezone program didn't sound too new.

"It's just a rehash of their old technology with a new name," McKee said.

McKee said he is not worried about Time Warner losing customers to the new system.

Time Warner still offers different services for its customers, including more on-demand options and local channels in high-definition, McKee said.

Both companies continue to upgrade their systems to appeal to customers.

Harris said AT&T has service expansion plans in the works for Beaumont, Mauriceville and Lumberton that will make more households eligible for its DSL service.

Time Warner has offered home telephone service for three years, and has spent more than $60 million during the past few years upgrading its networks across Southeast Texas, McKee said.

Customers will decide which they prefer. But there's no harm in having another choice, AT&T spokesman Dan Feldstein said.

"It's competition," Feldstein said. "Any time it's competition, it's good for consumers."

msmith@beaumontenterprise.com (409) 880-0723
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2007/03/16/2425992.htm

I am looking into getting Homezone...I have a HD tv and getting HD broadcast and DVR is a must to me.

Do any users of the product have any feedback on their thoughts of the product? I am intrigued by the DSL interaction, the HD capabilities, and a HD DVR all wrapped into one product.

At this point, I do not want to sink the money into the IPTV installation.

Thanks for any feedback.

AT&T Homezone Is Proving Ground for Pending Set of U-verse Features

By Fred Dawson and Peter Lambert

As AT&T works neighborhood by neighborhood to drive penetration of its U-verse IPTV service across what is now a 14-market launch footprint, the carrier is preparing rollout of a multitude of new applications, many of which are now seeing commercial deployment on the Homezone side of its TV operation.

The company would speak only on background about its plans for U-verse or the state of the rollout at a delicate moment of determining just how fast it can scale the service. But an unnamed official made clear in written answers to questions from ScreenPlays that the carrier intends to play the differentiation card against cable incumbents as fast as it can bring new applications to market.

The executive, replying to our query about the next wave of applications, had this to say:

“AT&T is planning to continue to evolve its U-verse TV service with even more interactive features that take advantage of its 100 percent IPTV platform, including:

* The U-bar, an interactive component to U-verse TV that allows users to access stock, weather, sports, or traffic information on their television screen, based on the preferences set through the AT&T Yahoo! portal.
* Access to online photos through an “AT&T Yahoo! Photos” channel on AT&T U-verse TV. Customer will be able to pull up their AT&T Yahoo! photo albums on-screen.
* Whole-home DVR, which extends digital video recording throughout the home and allows customers to record a program in one room and view it in another.
* Caller ID on the TV, which allows viewers to see who is calling before deciding to interrupt their program to answer the phone.
* Wireless remote access, which extends the ability to manage DVR recordings and parental controls to an AT&T wireless phone.”

The official also made clear the company intends to push converged mobile and
fixed services to greater lengths very quickly as it brings IP-based voice service to market. “Our all-IP platform means we can provide integration across services and across platforms – television, wireless, and PCs,” the official said. “When we launch U-verse Voice later in 2007, it will include features such as U-verse Messaging, which combines wireless and U-verse voice mail, so customers can access all of their messages anywhere, from a phone line or PC.”

The executive also stressed the importance of personalized advertising to the
future of the U-verse business. “AT&T will take advantage of its next-generation service platforms to enhance relevance of advertising messages for consumers and advertisers,” the official said. “AT&T’s IP platform will allow advertisers to take advantage of greater addressability, enhanced relevance, cross-platform advertising, and interactivity”

While acknowledging advertising solutions and packages are still under development, the official added, “AT&T is the first company of its kind to undertake such a widespread integrated advertising initiative, and we expect it to be a significant revenue stream for the company.”

Much of the pending U-verse applications lineup has already been put into play
over AT&T’s combination satellite/DSL Homezone service. In March the company said Homezone customers, at no additional charge, could now use any Web Access Protocol 2.0-compliant cell phone or other handheld device to access their Homezone media system to view listings and to search and schedule recordings of video content. In the future, the company said, this functionality will expand to include remote access to photos, music and other system content.

Homezone service integrates AT&T Yahoo!, high-speed Internet and the AT&T DISH Network satellite television together with AT&T Home Networking services through a single set-top device. The service makes movies on demand and other on-demand programming available over high-speed DSL through an affiliation with Akimbo, now offering over 15,000 content titles, as well as other content providers.

While AT&T is marketing U-verse as the preferred service where both are available and is marketing the two separately from each other, the wider availability of Homezone is clearly providing the marketing presence the company is looking for as a video service provider.

“When consumers think TV, we want them to think AT&T,” said Rick Welday, chief marketing officer for AT&T Consumer. “Compelling features, like wireless remote access and thousands of downloadable titles, give us an entertainment service that goes beyond others on the market today.”

To get Homezone, customers must order the AT&T Yahoo! Internet service nd the 2Wire home networking gateway along with the satellite service. After choosing from a variety of broadband speeds and satellite packages, they add $9.99 to the overall service fee to obtain Homezone, which is now available across all 13 states served by AT&T prior to its acquisition of BellSouth. Officials said an HDTV receiver and new music and video content are in the offing for Homezone subscribers.
Ken Tysell, executive director for entertainment services at Homezone, made clear the U-verse and Homezone teams are coordinating applications development efforts with the intention of speeding the transfer of new components into U-verse. “I think, on a going-forward basis, we’re working very closely between teams,” Tysell said. “Where we find a piece of content or an application that works well in one, we’re definitely working to get it to the other service.”

“Remote access is a good example,” he added. “The PC flavor (enabling customers to schedule recordings and set TV menu preferences through the carrier’s portal) was first available on Homezone and is now available on U-verse. We’ll likely go through a similar process with wireless phone access.”

Asked how soon these new innovations will begin to show up in U-verse, Tysell replied, “I think we’ll get better and faster at getting one to the other over time.”

Where both services are offered Tysell made clear customers will still have a Homezone or AT&T Dish without Homezone option if they choose not to take U-verse. “We’re happy to sell all three alternatives,” he said.

While U-verse was slower getting off the ground than the company originally
planned, the previously quoted official stressed the company is proud of what it has accomplished in the less than three years since it unveiled its IPTV strategy.

“We’ve upgraded local access networks,” the executive said. “We’ve designed and built a proprietary new video delivery backbone network. We’ve conducted extensive trials and testing to ensure the reliability and quality our customers expect. Our IT teams have built new systems to enable ordering, provisioning and billing. We’ve expanded and trained our workforce to support the U-verse suite of products. We’ve worked closely with our vendors to design new, custom set-top boxes and remote controls. We’ve signed numerous programming agreements with the leading networks and content providers. All in all, we’ve made tremendous progress in bringing this new technology to the market.”

Asked whether there was any element of the U-verse story the press has been overlooking or short-changing, the official replied, “See above answer.”

http://www.screenplaysmag.com/Default.aspx?tabid=96&articleId=492&articleType=ArticleView&SkinSrc=%5bG%5dSkins%2f_default%2fNo+Skin&ContainerSrc=%5bG%5dContainers%2f_default%2fNo+Container

Tulsa World.com
by: CRAYTON HARRISON Bloomberg News
5/17/2007 9:55 AM

AT&T Inc. says that by year's end it will choose whether to keep EchoStar Communications Corp. or DirecTV Group Inc. as its satellite-television provider.

The company sells EchoStar's Dish Network service in 13 states -- including Oklahoma -- and offers DirecTV's plans in the nine states served by BellSouth Corp., which AT&T acquired last year.

San Antonio-based AT&T will select one of the satellite providers before their contracts expire in early 2008, Chief Financial Officer Rick Lindner said Wednesday at an investor conference in Washington, D.C.

AT&T, the nation's largest telephone company, packages satellite-TV plans with phone service and Internet access to compete with cable TV companies such as Cox Communications, which have expanded into the phone business.

In addition to satellite TV, AT&T sells a wired television service called U-verse in 18 U.S. markets.

AT&T is installing the U-verse service, which relies on a fiber-optic network, at a rate of about 500 homes a day, Lindner said. In April, the company said it was connecting U-verse to homes at a rate of 2,000 per week.

AT&T and Englewood, Colo.-based EchoStar sell a service called Homezone that uses the phone company's high-speed Internet connections to make movie downloads and photo slideshows available through the television. The companies have been partners since 2002.

DirecTV, based in El Segundo, Calif., also sells its service through Verizon Communications Inc., the nation's second-largest phone company, and Qwest Communications International Inc., the fourth largest.

BellSouth began selling DirecTV plans in 2003.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/common/printerfriendlystory.aspx?articleID=070517_5_E4_spanc62814

AT&T Inc. says that by year's end it will choose whether to keep EchoStar Communications Corp. or DirecTV Group Inc. as its satellite-television provider.
I can't imagine they would get rid of Echostar at this point. With Homezone already deployed, seems like a no-brainer. They would have to rework the box most likely if they switched over to Directv.

I can't imagine they would get rid of Echostar at this point. With Homezone already deployed, seems like a no-brainer. They would have to rework the box most likely if they switched over to Directv.

This is logical but also remember that BellSouth claimed to be much more successful in terms of subscribers for DirecTV than AT&T was with DISH. There would have to be some type of grandfather deal done to take care of those customers.

I just learned this ATT Homezone deal. I agree if D* is more successful it does not seem logical for ATT to go E* solo in a few months, but why did they just start to roll out this new 2wire Homezone receiver?

Personally I don't care who they use for TV service, I am interested in this new receiver's ability to allow me to schedule DVR recording from a remote location as long as I have internet access, and of course to upload pictures and order movies for later viewing when I get back home. That certainly makes your vacation a lot easier. We constantly lose cameras and memory cards, accidentally delete pictures on the road. Some were not fault of ours such as lost baggages at airport.

Another issue is since I am currently an E* sub, seven if I cancel my E* account, ATT will not place my order until I am at least 6 months without E*. Kind of hard to understand since I am still going to be using E* through ATT.

Sling Media, EchoStar & Ma Bell: The Buyout Game

Written by Om Malik
Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 2:45 AM PT

The $380 million purchase of Sling Media by EchoStar (DISH) may turn out be act one of a drama that climaxes with AT&T (T) buying EchoStar’s satellite broadcast business. The company has asked its board of directors to split the company into two divisions — both publicly traded.

One division would consist of the consumer pay-TV business, while the second division would house the technology business, including set-top boxes, fixed satellite services, and Sling Media, and ostensibly investments such as EchoStar’s $10 million stake in Archos. Charlie Ergen would be chairman and CEO of both of the new companies. Suddenly, Sling Media’s announcement last week that it was helping DirecTV (DTV) distribute football videos online makes sense. Now as a separate company they can do the same for anyone, including DirecTV.

UBS analyst John Hodulik in a note to clients said he believes this split “improves the chances that AT&T will eventually acquire EchoStar’s video business.” EchoStar has been linked in the past with AT&T and is the video provider for AT&T’s Homezone service. The Homezone sales have been on an upswing, even as AT&T pushes sales of its IPTV-based U-Verse service.

In its most recent quarter, AT&T added 200,000 new video connections, bringing the total to 1.9 million. At the end of the second quarter, AT&T had 51,000 U-verse video subscribers, so I am guessing the rest came from satellite TV. This is one of the reasons why Wall Street is convinced that AT&T and EchoStar will come together.

Hodulik points out that next year, when DirecTV’s deal with BellSouth ends, EchoStar is going to get a nice surprise.

The acquisition of EchoStar’s pay-TV business would improve its content purchasing power by adding DISH’s 14 million subscribers, enable it to advertise video across its entire footprint, and allow it to more fully participate in the economics associated with sales of the satellite television service into its own residential customer base.

He’s right, and given that EchoStar is seeking to find out the tax implications of its split, there is a reasonable chance that the company is preparing itself to be sold.

http://gigaom.com/2007/09/26/echostar-att/

Deal Leaves Dish Network Without Major Reseller Partner
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 9/26/2008 7:35:00 PM

AT&T will market and sell a co-branded version of DirecTV's satellite TV service after Jan. 31, 2009 -- a deal that will leave Dish Network without a major reseller partner.

Financial details of the non-equity agreement, announced late Friday, were not disclosed.

DirecTV has similar agreements with Verizon Communications, which markets the direct-broadcast satellite service in areas where it doesn't offer FiOS TV, as well as Qwest Communications International.

Dish disclosed this week that it extended its deal with AT&T through Jan. 31, 2009, an agreement that the telco noted it "will fully honor." Customers who have ordered Dish service through AT&T will continue to receive the same service.

The end of AT&T's partnership with Dish looms as the DBS operator posted its first-ever subscriber loss, of 25,000 customers, for the second quarter. Last fall, AT&T was rumored to be considering buying Dish.

Earlier this year, AT&T said it would offer Dish service in all territories to customers where its U-verse TV service is not available, including the nine states where BellSouth had resold DirecTV, as it considered whether it would offer Dish or DirecTV service in 2009 and beyond.

AT&T will market DirecTV service to households where it doesn't provide U-verse TV. As of June 30, the company had 549,000 U-verse TV customers and the telco has said it expects to top 1 million subscribers by year’s end. The service is available to more than 11 million living units in 53 markets.

The telco plans to offer service bundles with DirecTV's video service, promising discounts for customers that also subscriber to AT&T wireless, home phone and broadband services.

AT&T vice president of video and entertainment Jeff Weber said in a statement that the DirecTV service "complements our premier AT&T U-verse TV service and gives customers another great choice for state-of-the-art, 100% digital programming."

Separately, Liberty Media chairman John Malone -- speaking at the company's investor day meeting earlier on Friday -- tried to dispel speculation that his DirecTV Group would merge with Dish, but added that the two satellite giants could share resources in the future.

Malone said that although in a year or more “anything crazy can happen,” for the time being “I don’t think it is worth either company’s energy or effort to approach the regulatory agencies with that proposal.”

http://www.multichannel.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6600006

Dow Jones
September 26, 2008: 06:37 PM EST

(Updates throughout with details on agreement, context, comments.)

By Roger Cheng

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- AT&T Inc. (T) chose DirecTV Group Inc. (DTV) as its satellite television provider, ousting former partner DISH Network Corp. (DISH).

DirecTV and DISH had been jockeying to become the long-term provider of satellite TV services to AT&T's large customer base since the telecommunications giant said it would explore its satellite options. DISH was thought to have the inside track because of its longer relationship with AT&T and joint investment into their Homezone services, but DirecTV's high-definition content and sports packages proved more attractive. The new agreement starts in February.

"Our focus is on providing customers with a better TV experience than cable," Jeff Weber, vice president of video and entertainment for AT&T, said in a statement.

DISH shares fell 6% to $3.95 in post-market action.

It marks another victory for DirecTV. The company has performed solidly despite a highly competitive video environment, and has been able to take a large share of new customers by pushing its high-definition message. AT&T inherited the relationship with DirecTV as a result of an existing agreement between it and BellSouth. AT&T bought BellSouth in 2007.

In addition to the nine former BellSouth states, DirecTV will go after customers in the other 13 states AT&T operates in.

"The opportunity is enormous," said Paul Guyardo, chief sales and marketing officer for DirecTV. "A majority of customers in AT&T's footprint have cable. We have a superior alternative."

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. AT&T only said the agreement didn't include a stake in DirecTV, unlike the previous deal with DISH.

AT&T and DirecTV were mum on plans for the service when it is fully rolled out in February. Guyardo said the two companies will focus on bundling satellite into the AT&T suite of services so customers will get a single bill.

This is the latest setback for DISH, which has been on the receiving end of much of the share losses. In the last quarter, it became the first major U.S. satellite TV provider to lose customers, as its base shrunk by 25,000 subscribers. It fell behind in the race to provide high-definition channels, and now finds itself losing customers to DirecTV and the cable companies. The telcos, meanwhile, are spending billions to roll out TV services, and are taking share as well.

Now, DISH loses a significant source of customers and a valuable resale partner. It's particularly tough because like DirecTV, DISH can only offer standalone satellite TV. It can't bundle other services such as phone and Internet access without a partner. A DISH spokeswoman declined to comment.

AT&T and DISH had spent resources investing in the Homezone service, which integrates a DISH set-top box with a DSL connection. AT&T spokesman Fletcher Cook said the company will continue to support existing HomeZone customers.

It's unclear whether AT&T and DirecTV will follow up with similar integrated efforts, and both sides declined to comment on future plans.

In the end, DirecTV's content gave it an edge. In addition to the high- definition channels, it offers exclusive packages showing National Football League games, the NCAA college basketball tournament and has a deal with Nascar, among others.

AT&T and DirecTV shares remained unchanged in after-hours trading. DirecTV is controlled by John Malone, who holds a 48% stake through his Liberty Media Corp. unit.

AT&T's shares closed down 7 cents at $30 on Friday, while DirecTV shares closed up 1.2% at $26.55. Both were unchanged after hours.

-By Roger Cheng, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2020; roger.cheng@dowjones.com

(Kathy Shwiff contributed to this story.)

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200809261837DOWJONESDJONLINE000770_FORTUNE5.htm