AT&T U-Verse: Now Available-ish
If you’ve been looking for a new “cable” provider and are shy about going the satellite route, AT&T’s got a new solution for you in their U-Verse service.
We first heard the words “U-Verse” and “Fayetteville” strung together many, many months ago. It was all over the news and was discussed around the watercooler by many tv-loving locals. But, the hype soon died down and news on the U-Verse front went dead. There were no articles, no rumors and AT&T even went silent on the subject. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, U-Verse was back and available to the citizens of Fayetteville… sorta.
You see, you can now sign up for the service, but only if it’s available in your neck of the Fayetteville woods. From what I can tell, there’s no map that indicates where service is available, you just have to call and find out or run a quick search on their site. After running my address through their site, I found that it was available at my house… but then again, they had my address listed in a different zip code. So… maybe it is, but maybe it isn’t. Weird.
In addition to the confusion surrounding where U-Verse is available in Fayetteville, there appears to be some trouble brewing between the city government and AT&T. Part of the agreement between AT&T and the city, which is similiar to the Cox Communications agreement, was that U-Verse would host the public education and government channels on their lowest tier. However, at the time of launch, the channels were not available on U-Verse and don’t appear to be on the way any time soon. Hopefully this gets resolved sooner than later.
Despite the confusion and possible problem with the city, if you’re looking to move away from Cox or satellite, it sounds like U-Verse offers some great things. First off, they boast almost 300 channels including 75 HD channels. A quick call to a local U-Verse retailer confirmed that they also offer local HD channels, which is a must for all of us here at the Flyer. Can’t live without DVR? Don’t worry, you won’t have to. In fact, you’ll be able to take you DVR’ing up a notch or two by recording up to four shows simultaneously. Oh yeah! You can also broadcast, from one DVR mind you, to multiple tv’s in your house. Awesome? Yes. Guess what? It gets even better. You can control your DVR from anywhere with an internet connection. Yes, that includes your iPhone. Suh-weet!
I’ll be looking into this in more detail. If it really is as great as it seems, Cox might have a real competitor on their hands, which bodes well for your checkbook if you’re gonna stick with Cox.
Want to find out more about AT&T’s U-Verse? Click here.
Comments
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By Johnathan on January 14th, 2009
Not available at my place yet, right in the middle of town. Hopefully it’ll be city-wide soon. Cox needs some competition here.
By Kyle on January 16th, 2009
I hate Cox, so this is great. I hope I can keep my TiVo, I got a 2 year monthly payment on it, so that’s the reason I haven’t switched to satellite. Cox customer service is horrible. They come to my house to fix one thing, don’t fix it right and it takes 2 weeks to get someone else back out there to fix something that I could have done over the phone. Literally, I have to wait a week for someone to come to my house, sit on the floor, and talk to someone on the phone…
By CRB on January 16th, 2009
I’ve ordered this service and will have it one week! Cox refused to match AT&T’s prices so my decision was easy.
By The Truth on January 16th, 2009
Like Jonathan, I can’t get service. I think it’s a little strange that I live two blocks from the Fayetteville Square and it’s not available. You’d think downtown would be one of the first places to get it, but who knows?
I’ve heard they’re working hard to expand the coverage area but don’t have a timeline. I hope they hurry. I don’t want to deal with Cox.
By Wiff Rightly on January 16th, 2009
CRB – Awesome! After it’s installed and you’ve had a chance to play around with it, will you let us know what you think?
By CRB on January 16th, 2009
Will do
By Johnathan on January 16th, 2009
I wonder how they decide who can have it. I’m close enough for their fastest tier (elite) DSL service, so you’d think that I’d have a good enough connection to hold a little TV.
Hopefully it’ll be here soon. I’ll upgrade the second it is.
By Strokitecture on January 17th, 2009
Ya I am totally stoked to find out how the service pans out for you CRB. I matched my current Cox service to the nearest ATT service and for 15 bucks less a month from ATT i can have way more channels (most notably 6+ HBO HD channels VS Cox miraculous 1).
Keep us posted!
By Lankford on January 18th, 2009
@TheTruth – I’m also just down the street from the square and it’s not available yet. Bummer. I got all excited. I heard from a friend today that had it installed. They said it works great and the internet is fast too.
By sofresh-n-sogay on January 18th, 2009
the tv tiers are great, but the internet rates are bogus
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