Edith "Dotsy" Fauntleroy Smith
June 3, 2009Enell Bradley Brown
June 5, 2009Thibodaux city officials are in talks with AT&T to bring more than 100 high-definition channels and an extensive video-on-demand feature to Thibodaux residents through the company’s digital video service U-verse, which connects through telephone lines.
“It’s video service that we deliver through Internet protocol, not television over the Internet,” said AT&T spokesman Hood Harris.
Harris said local cable companies offer only 30 HD channels, whereas AT&T offers 110.
“We are not trying to say every channel will be wired to your house,” he said. “We are only sending what you want to watch. For that reason, we are able to offer a lot more of the HD channels and the regular channels as well.”
City attorney Germaine Jackson and the Thibodaux City Council discussed an agreement with an AT&T representative at last week’s city council meeting. No action has been taken at this time.
Jackson reviewed the agreement prior to the council meeting. There is relatively no difference between the agreement with AT&T and standard franchise agreements with telecommunications franchises, she said.
Harris said the deal would pay the same percentage of gross revenue to the city that cable provider Charter Communications pays.
“I think it would be something beneficial to the city,” Mayor Charles Caillouet said.
Though it would not replace Charter Communications, the city’s current cable-television provider, the new service will increase the choices residents have. Other choices include Direct TV and Dish Network.
Harris said AT&T is prepared to launch service in some areas before the end of the year. But Thibodaux city officials caution the process may take some time.
“We are at the beginning,” Jackson said. “We need to look at some things before deciding to go ahead with this service.”
U-verse delivers a new entertainment experience, Harris said. The signal is delivered to customers via phone or fiber optic lines using Internet protocol, which prevents it from interfering with the city’s agreement with Charter for cable television services.
U-verse has more than 300 channels, 100 HD channels, a searchable yellow pages function, and a playable Yahoo! Games service.
U-verse also features Total Home DVR, which lets customers watch any recorded program from a single DVR on any connected TV in the home. Customers also are able to set their DVR from the Web or any cell phone that supports the Internet, Harris said.
