AT&T's U-verse Making Its Way to Fairfax

If you’re an AT&T broadband subscriber and your connection has been painfully slow, a solution could be in the works – for a price.

The phone giant’s triple-play U-verse service, which is already available in San Anselmo, is expected to be rolled out to Fairfax subscribers within the next couple of months, an AT&T network technician said. Company spokesman John Britton refused to confirm or deny the news, saying only, “Clearly we’re building out the network in that area. Once we’re done building, we’ll move into the marketing.”

U-verse is an IP-based technology that uses the same connection to bring TV and broadband to homes. It was rolled out to the majority of San Anselmo subscribers last spring. U-verse’s fiber-to-the-node technology connects to a customer’s home from a neighborhood box. This means that those who live closer to the neighborhood box, or node, will see faster connections, but, on average, subscribers who purchase the fastest tiers will see 24Mbps downloads.

In other words, internet speeds that topped out at 12Mbps with AT&T’s regular DSL service will be bumped up to 24Mbps with U-verse’s fastest tier, which costs $65 per month. That’s at least $25 more than the company’s speediest DSL offering. But it’s still significantly slower than Ma Bell’s cable rivals. Comcast -- the only other major competitor in the San Anselmo/Fairfax area -- touts 50Mbps downloads, though it costs a heftier $100 per month.

When asked how U-verse compares to Comcast, Britton said, "U-verse is the fastest-growing network for a reason. It's the only 100 percent IP network available." He claimed that because U-verse is a software-driven TV product, the company can add new features without raising the price of bundles. Currently, subscribers can sign up for bundles that include video-on-demand, an HD digital video recorder, and a dedicated channel for home content.

Comcast spokesman Andrew Johnson said that AT&T is simply playing catch-up. He noted that the network AT&T is “just now building in a handful of neighborhoods mirrors exactly the network Comcast has operated, in every neighborhood in San Anselmo and Fairfax, for a number of years.” 

U-verse experienced some hiccups when it was first launched that slowed its expansion. In its most recent earnings call, the company said it has now reached nearly 3 million subscribers.