AT&T finally appears ready to crank up the speed on a cable-television alternative in downstate Illinois.
We could learn as early as this week just where network upgrades stand for U-VERSE TV as an alternative to satellite and traditional cable providers such as Comcast Corp. Don’t’ get ready to flip the switch just yet -- a specific date still could be months off.
But company representatives say a U-verse “update” is in the works for markets outside of Chicago, where the service first was introduced in Illinois.
There are other signs the company is preparing a major high-tech push downstate:
-- 40 new cell sites are planned this year, including in the Springfield, Danville, Quincy and Chicago markets.
-- Capital projects this year also include expansion of the 3G (third-generation) wireless broadband network in Champaign, Kankakee, Peoria, LaSalle and Ottawa.
-- The company released a statement in the past week that it continues to enhance the wire-line network needed to offer U-verse and U-verse high-speed Internet “following a state law that encourages broadband investment and video competition in Illinois.”
The “state law” referred to is a 2007 law that allowed AT&T to become the first telecommunications company in Illinois to obtain a statewide video franchise. Previously, companies planning to offer cable-television products had to obtain a franchise from individual communities.
In return for the one-stop franchise, AT&T agreed to increase spending on broadband and cable networks.
Consumer skepticism would be understandable here. The prospect of cable television from the telephone company in Springfield goes back at least to the mid-1990s and Ameritech (which became SBC, which became AT&T).
At one point in 2002, even City Water, Light and Power was looking at ways to get into the cable business as an alternative to the old Insight Communications. The idea quietly faded away as a result of the expense.
There are a couple of differences this time around. AT&T estimates the company spent $3.3 billion on network upgrades in Illinois from 2006 to 2008. Investors will want a return on that capital investment.
But just as importantly, the law requires it. At some point.
