As we noted last month, AT&T has finally gotten around to deploying bonded VDSL, which enlists a second copper pair to each house to increase U-Verse’s maximum delivery range another 1-2,000 feet from the VRAD. AT&T’s VP of U-verse and video products, Jeff Weber, talks to Fierce IPTV about U-Verse, which he insists is “a state of the art product” at one-fourth the cost of running last mile fiber. Weber also claims that Verizon’s decision to stop deploying FiOS into new markets validates AT&T’s decision to stick with last-mile copper:We have a different footprint, so I wouldn’t say opportunity in the sense of real significant head-to-head video competition, but I do think it’s a crystal clear validation that the strategy we took, the architecture and investment at a fundamentally, order of magnitude different level of cost to go do this, was the right one, as opposed to the really expensive, slower way of going at this. So, we don’t compete in wireline footprint head-to-head, but it is a validation that the investment strategy and the network strategy was the right one.Of course a major difference is that with last-mile fiber already deployed to half their markets, Verizon’s in a position to offer 50 Mbps (and soon 100 Mbps) service to customers in markets where cable operators are offering 50 Mbps or faster service. Verizon’s also not having to juggle compression and bandwidth to manage their TV ambitions, and they’re in a position with GPON upgrades and a shift to IPTV to compete for the next decade.
In contrast, AT&T’s top data tier sits at 24 Mbps and remains distance-constrained, the company is consistently battling bandwidth limitations and consumer expectations, and AT&T’s eventually going to have to upgrade that last-mile anyway. It’s also worth noting that AT&T slowed U-Verse expansion as well — the company hoping to pass 30 million homes by end of 2011, a goal they originally claimed they’d pass a year or two ago.
It’s really not clear how Verizon’s decision to stop FiOS expansion justifies U-Verse in any way. Verizon slowed FiOS because they wanted to up penetration in deployed markets, but also because they saw the potential to net taxpayer money through stimulus funding and USF “reform.” In the end, Verizon’s already done the heavy lifting AT&T simply managed to defer for another day.
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