More Than 200,000 Houston Customers Choose AT&T U-verse TV Over Cable.

Video choice and competition have reached Houston consumers in a big way, and they have responded. AT&T* announced that more than 200,000 Houston customers have made the switch to AT&T U-verse(SM) TV. The milestone comes after the initial launch of U-verse TV in the Houston area only three years ago.

Houston customers were among the first to receive AT&T U-verse in November 2006, and AT&T has continued its efforts to make the service more widely available in the market. AT&T U-verse is currently offered throughout the Houston region, including parts of Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris and Montgomery counties. From 2006 through 2008, AT&T's total capital investment in its Texas wireless and wireline networks was more than $6 billion, which helped facilitate the roll out of AT&T U-verse services across the state.

"Today's AT&T U-verse subscriber milestone reflects our commitment to make the investments necessary to bring consumers across the greater Houston area a new era of true video competition," said Don Cain, AT&T Texas president. "We are thrilled to offer this innovative video choice to Houston area customers, and even more excited about the strong customer response we're seeing."

Texas was the first state where AT&T U-verse services were deployed, as a result of legislation passed in September 2005 by the Texas Legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Perry.

This legislation provides an environment that encourages new video providers, such as AT&T, to invest in Texas to compete against incumbent cable providers.

"The Texas Legislature was the first in the country to pass a bill that enabled a quick roll-out of this video service on the basis that it would bring competition, jobs and lower prices to Houston. That's exactly what has happened," said state Rep. Sylvester Turner.

"Today's milestone confirms what we've known all along. Houston customers want a new and better TV choice," said Chris Penrose, vice president and general manager for AT&T in South Texas. "Houston customers love the better DVR, better apps and better experience they get with U-verse TV, and we look forward to more customers learning why U-verse TV is such an exciting TV service. After all, what Houston cable customer can say they've received more than 20 free TV apps at no extra charge and have more HD channels than their U-verse neighbor?"

AT&T U-verse TV is the only 100 percent Internet Protocol-based television (IPTV) service offered by a national service provider, making AT&T U-verse one of the most dynamic and feature-rich services available today. AT&T U-verse TV ranked "Highest in Residential Television Service Satisfaction in the South Region Two Years in a Row," according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 and 2009 Residential Television Service Provider Satisfaction Studies(SM). Today, AT&T has 2.1 million U-verse TV subscribers nationwide.

Keywords: AT&T, AT&T Inc., Capital Investment, Finance, Internet, Internet Protocols, Investing, Investment, Telecommunications, Television, World Wide Web

This article was prepared by Telecommunications Weekly editors from staff and other reports.