AT&T U-Verse offering 1 Year FREE of DISH Network

Originally posted on VoIP & Gadgets Blog
Yesterday, I was in Best Buy (Norwalk, CT store) walking past the TV section when I was approached by a guy standing by a table. He handed me some AT&T U-Verse literature and proceeded to pitch me on signing up for U-Verse. I mentioned that I didn't live in Norwalk, he asked where I did live and then he told me they didn't offer U-Verse in my area yet.

However, he stated that AT&T is offering a nice incentive - 1 year FREE of DISH Network service if I signed up now for AT&T U-Verse. I said, "Well, what if in one year from now you still aren't offering U-Verse in my neighborhood? Do I still get free DISH Network service?"

He didn't really give a good answer to the question, but did say that AT&T is going gangbusters to rollout U-Verse in Fairfield County, one of the wealthiest counties in the nation and also very densly populated. So I asked "So you're focusing on deploying in Norwalk and Stamford first is my guess, correct?" He responded, "That's exactly right. We're targetting Norwalk and Stamford first, but plan on quickly moving to other towns." He briefly mentioned New York - not sure if he meant NYC, but that would put AT&T in Verizon's home turf with their FiOS service.

I expressed my skepticism that AT&T would reach their goal of 18 million homes back in March. However, when compared to the $20 billion Verizon is spending to rollout their FiOS fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) service, AT&T's fiber/copper-hybrid rollout is a bargain. AT&T can more quickly recoup their investment faster than Verizon since Verizon has to dig fiber all the way to the home where as AT&T only needs to draw fiber to the neighborhood and then use copper the rest of the way to the home.

from: Marietta Times

Council agrees to oppose cable regulation bill

By Sam Shawver, sshawver@mariettatimes.com

Following some discussion, Marietta’s City Council on Thursday adopted a resolution opposing a bill in the Ohio Senate that provides for state regulation of local cable franchises.

from: Boca Raton news

State to franchise cable TV; Boca doesn’t like it

Published Friday, May 4, 2007
by By Dale M. King

After spending years working on a master ordinance to regulate cable television franchises, it appears Boca Raton will have to put that law on the shelf.

from: Tampa Bay Community Network

Governor Crist, Veto This Bill!

Dear Friends of Tampa Bay Community Network, your public access cable television station:

Recently, we wrote you for help to persuade the Florida Senate to vote against Senate Bill 998. Unfortunately, the Senate passed and sent it back to the House. It has now become House Bill 529, carries the misnomer "Consumer Choice Act of 2007" and is even worse than the earlier versions.

Note: follow the discussion thread at the source link

from: The Albany Project

The NYS Telecommunications Reform Act is the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread...

Thu May 03, 2007 at 13:32:15 PM EDT

(I'll be the first to admit that I'm not terribly literate in telecom issues, but I've been talking lately to folks who certainly are. Topic #1 these days is Assemblyman Brodsky's Telecommunications bill. It has been described to me by more than one person as the "gold standard" in state telecom legislation. Oddly, very few people seem to be paying much attention to it, including the Governor. I asked Pete to post about the bill so we can all learn about it and to start a conversation about what exactly makes it worthy of our support. Thanks to Pete for posting this. - promoted by lipris)