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Stamford, Norwalk get cable competition(Stamford Advocate, The (Stamford, CT) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Dec. 28--Stamford and Norwalk residents are among the first in the state with access to AT&T's U-verse cable television service that will compete with Cablevision and satellite TV. AT&T, which provides telephone services in lower Fairfield County, except parts of Greenwich, announced yesterday that U-verse, offering packages with as many as 300 TV and music channels, is available to homes in certain areas in both cities. It will be rolled out over the coming months to other neighborhoods and municipalities, spokesman Seth Bloom said. "We want to get it to as many neighborhoods as we can," he said. Across the state, sections of Danbury, Fairfield, Trumbull, Milford, Cheshire, Newington and Wethersfield also have access to U-verse. The service ranges in price from $59 per month for a package that includes 50 channels and broadband Internet service, to $129 for 300 channels, including premium movie networks and faster Internet service. High-definition channels, after an introductory period, and optional packages such as sports, Spanish-language and additional movie networks cost extra. U-verse is initially offering about 25 stations in high definition. Lower Fairfield County subscribers will see 16 New York area broadcast TV stations, including network affiliates WNBC, WABC, WCBS and WPIX, on U-verse. WTNH, Channel 8 from New Haven, is the only Connecticut station on the lower Fairfield County lineup. Those who sign up for U-verse in the Hartford or New Haven areas will receive Connecticut broadcast stations and network affiliates. Community and public access channels and Cablevision's local news programming are missing from U-Verse's channel list. Bloom said offerings are "evolving," and other stations may be added based on local demand. "There have already been additions," Bloom said. "Most notably the YES Network, and NESN in certain packages." YES shows most New York Yankees games; NESN is the Boston Red Sox station. Customers will be able to get four telecommunications services from AT&T: landline telephone, Cingular cellular telephone, television and Internet, he said. TV service gives AT&T a new weapon in its high-tech competition with Cablevision and other cable providers, who have lured customers away from phone companies with deals that include Internet and telephone service, as well as television. Cablevision has captured nearly 25 percent of the market for landline telephone in its service areas, and signed up more than 2 million high-speed Internet customers. The company provides cable TV to 3.1 million customers in markets that include Fairfield County and Long Island, N.Y. A Cablevision spokesman said the firm is ready for the challenge. "Cablevision competes successfully because our Internet access is faster, our phone service delivers much more value, and our television product is far superior to satellite or telephone company TV, and Connecticut consumers know the difference," Cablevision's Jim Maiella said. AT&T won the right to deliver competitive television service when regulators decided that its Internet-protocol TV technology was not a communications service as defined under law, and therefore not subject to local franchising and other requirements mandating that a cable TV system must carry certain channels. But government officials, including state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, continue to seek some control, fearing that without regulation Internet-protocol TV will discriminate against urban and poorer consumers. "AT&T's IPTV plan is deeply disappointing, confining service to a few suburban towns, bypassing cities and less affluent areas," Blumenthal said in a statement yesterday. "The company has confirmed what we said all along: Without . . . regulation, IPTV providers will cherry-pick the wealthiest and most accessible customers, denying many consumers the huge potential benefits of this new type of TV. "My office will continue fighting in court for state regulation to assure that providers make IPTV widely available and meet their civic obligations to the community," he said. Copyright (c) 2006, The Stamford Advocate, Conn. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |