Directv to shift away from Satellite?
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ATT/DirecTV management has stated to employees that US content delivery via "broadband" is the new focus with a 5yr goal and at the same time all new US satellite purchases have been canceled. To that add DTV groups that fly some of the sats have been laid off and the group that handles new build outs for uplink systems has been all but disbanded.
I know of at least one DTV uplink site that has gone through some massive expansion of fiber connectivity well beyond what a satellite uplink facility would need. What else could these actions be gearing up for?
I know of at least one DTV uplink site that has gone through some massive expansion of fiber connectivity well beyond what a satellite uplink facility would need. What else could these actions be gearing up for?
Yeah, that's my guess. The "home-centric" (to use the AT&T CEO's descriptor) service that is slated to launch this fall will use the same underlying cloud-based OTT streaming platform that is nearing the end of beta testing for DTV Now. But it will come with AT&T-issued set-top boxes and voice remotes (powered by Google's Android TV operating system) and will probably be branded differently. "AT&T TV" is a good guess for the name, given that they recently trademarked it. It also matches up with the new simple branding scheme for their home internet services, AT&T Internet and AT&T Fiber. (AT&T Internet was formerly known as AT&T Uverse, i.e. fiber-to-the-node DSL, while AT&T Fiber is their newer fiber-to-the-home service.)
I'm sure that they'll offer to bundle AT&T TV with AT&T Internet/Fiber just as they did Uverse TV in the past. And given that the underlying platform is supposed to technologically be at a point to support a top-tier pay TV service in 2018 -- complete with cloud DVR, 4K HDR, multiple profiles, pay-per-view, etc. -- I can't imagine why AT&T would need Uverse TV to stick around once AT&T TV becomes available.
My AT&T Internet installer told me back in March that they would stop doing new installs of Uverse TV later this year, although the service would continue on for awhile after that to give existing subscribers time to transition to something else. In the meantime, AT&T is encouraging folks to sign up for DTV satellite (or DTV Now streaming). But they're still offering Uverse TV for those who don't want those options, as they don't want to completely lose out on providing TV service to those folks.
This is interesting, and frankly doesn't surprise me, if true. Do you work at AT&T? I'm wondering how you came upon this info.
AT&T said in their recent quarterly earnings call that DTV satellite will shift focus to providing service to rural areas where quality broadband service isn't as common. I do think the handwriting is on the wall: AT&T sees their video future in OTT streaming delivery and satellite TV service will be largely deprecated in a year or two, with no further money poured into developing or extending the life of that platform from that point forward.
Their still is I think 21 million DTV customers I think it will take them a long time to transition them over to OTT, which I do think is their current strategy, OTT using Fiber and 5g, except for the rural areas who can't get high speed internet. Right now DTV NOW isn't like DTV yet, unless that home centric version of DTV NOW will have channel packages that are just like the DTV channel packages and all the other features DTV has.
His info is very accurate. The amount of downsizing at DirecTV has been staggering. It's not a matter of if but when you get laid off. As far as what rural customers do? Dish Network most likely will be the only option if you don’t have access to streaming data. I don’t think they have a real plan for those people and while satellite will be around near term, long term it wont. There is a reason why the buzz from DirecTV has been sucked out and plans that were once leaked are now not even discussed. A once great company is now becoming the ways of what ATT did to TCI cable back in the day. What sucks for those who are still around is you cant make life decisions like buying a car or a home. You don’t know what your walking into anymore or if you even will have a job from what I have heard. ATT could be a great place if they just be upfront with their employees and customers about their plans and give time frames of what to expect.
Just curious, but what is 'shock' exactly? I was just wondering, I thought that fiber networks were much more reliable and resilient than copper ones. I thought that was why most enterprise networks were fiber based.
I just don't understand why they don't come right out and say what their official plans are with their TV service? First, it sounded like they were going to combine UVerseTV and DTV into one product. Then they said DTV NOW would be their primary TV service. Next, they said DTV NOW was not a replacement for DTV. Then they said they were going to combine DTV, UVerseTV and DTV NOW using the DTV NOW interface. Now they say internet streaming is going to be their main service.
This is pure speculation, but I wonder if they are continuing UVerse sales in areas that have it until Directv Now has the rights for all locals in a given area. For instance, in the Birmingham market, right now Directv Now only has ABC and NBC. If a customer couldn’t or didn’t want legacy Directv service and they can get UVerse they can still sell to that customer with a full slate of locals. They can always convert UVerse customers to Directv Now in the future and do away with the UVerse service market by market.
Sudden Movement...fiber doesn't transmit electricity..just light bouncing down a very tiny fibercore..if the fiber quickly moves and sways the light bounces differently and creates issues such as jitter and studder
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Plus, nearby explosions would damage the fibers when coax etc might have survived. Fuel air explosions can shake the earth enough to cause widespread damage.
It was once thought fiber was more resistant to nukes- no EMP long line effects. However, conventional-explosions have shown that isn’t so.
Of course, nukes going off might indicate more immediate things to worry about.
It was once thought fiber was more resistant to nukes- no EMP long line effects. However, conventional-explosions have shown that isn’t so.
Of course, nukes going off might indicate more immediate things to worry about.
Oh, I didn't mean to imply that D* satellite service would ONLY be available to rural dwellers. Just that AT&T sees satellite being mainly for that market going forward, presumably because many rural dwellers don't have access to broadband home service for OTT streaming (although that situation continues to improve and will do so rapidly over the next five years). Yes, as long as satellite service continues to be available across the mainland US, it should be accessible to anyone who currently has a dish, regardless of whether you're urban, suburban or rural.
As far as not wanting to use streaming as the primary or only method of accessing TV, why? As long as the service is reliable and responsive (which is a challenge for live streaming OTT services, but one that they continue to improve on), I don't really care about the delivery technology. I've been one of the DTV Now beta testers the past few months. I kinda forget at times that it's "internet TV" -- it works, channels change about as quickly as with satellite, and the picture quality is great. (That said, if you have a data cap on your home internet service, heavy TV viewing households could run into trouble if they rely on streaming for everything.)
Well, for now, they're continuing Uverse TV sales in all markets, I think. I suspect that you're right, though, that AT&T won't launch their "home-centric" OTT service (which will effectively replace Uverse TV) in a given market until they line up all of the major local stations there, which is matter of contractual agreements but also getting the technical uplink/ingest system in place for each station (assuming that it's a different system from D* satellite and Uverse TV). Now, they already have a lot of that work done for DTV Now, so those contracts may carry over to this forthcoming service too. Ideally, they'll have all the locals in place across their entire current Uverse TV footprint so that the new service can launch throughout it at the same time late this year. We'll see. However, this new service won't just be available in areas where AT&T offers home internet service (which is the case with Uverse TV). They've said that it will be available regardless of who your home internet provider is. In fact, that's one of the big innovations that it offers over Uverse TV. Because Uverse TV is managed IPTV, it can only be offered over AT&T's own network. But DTV Now and the forthcoming "home-centric" service that will use the same underlying technology are both OTT, meaning that they can be delivered to any device that's connected to the internet, regardless of whose networks the service traverses. D* satellite has always been a nationwide TV provider and AT&T knows that, in order to continue be a leading pay TV provider, they need to replace satellite with another nationwide service. OTT streaming is really the only option that allows that.
I live in a very rural area, and thankfully am fortunate enough to live where we have a very progressive rural electric coop. The REC here is running fiber to the home to all of their members. The whole project is supposed to be completed in five years. Where I live they are currently working on running the fiber, and they anticipate that our road will be ready to begin installs toward the end of the year. So, hopefully, soon I'll be able to get 1Gbps/1Gbps service, it is unmetered so you have no data cap. I currently have Dish and have had it for years, but if AT&T improves the DirecTV Now service (and adds channel numbers) I'll give it a try. My parents in their 60's wouldn't like not being able to have channel numbers, and have to solely use a guide or up and down channel buttons to get to what they want to watch. I have read that many think that AT&T will probably come out with their own Android based client for DirecTV Now 2.0/AT&T TV and it is presumed it will probably have channel numbers, like DirecTV and UVerse now have.
Sounds like your area is following the Chattanooga EPB's lead with fiber gigabit service. Nice. Between rural co-ops, the rollout of T-Mobile's 600 MHz frequency, broadband over TV frequency white spaces, low earth orbit satellite internet (SpaceX, etc.), and maybe AT&T's AirGig technology, the broadband situation in rural America should look a lot better in five years than it does now.
Yeah, some of the DTV Now beta testers have seen channel numbers appear and disappear from the channel guide. There's no reason for the DTV Now app on any current devices -- Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV -- to have channel numbers since none of those devices' remotes have 0-9 keypads. Instead, I'm sure AT&T is just testing the use of numbers because they'll be offered on the upcoming "home-centric" service -- maybe named AT&T TV -- which will come with its own dedicated STB and remote which DOES have a 0-9 keypad. My theory is that DTV Now is for cord-cutters who are already comfortable with streaming apps and devices. AT&T TV will be more for those who want a traditional "cable TV" experience but with some new tech thrown in, like a voice remote and the ability to optionally use apps like Netflix and YouTube on their main cable box. I suspect that AT&T TV will have a more full-featured cloud DVR and offer fatter channel packages too, but the cost will be higher in general than with DTV Now (unless you bundle AT&T TV with AT&T home internet service).
Here's a link to an AT&T STB that passed through the FCC last fall. Based on the model number and some references in the user manual, it would appear that this box will be the successor to the current Genie Mini client for use with D* satellite service. But I suspect that something very similar to it will be used for the "home-centric" OTT service too. In fact, it might make the most sense economically for AT&T to use this exact same box (with different pre-loaded software) for both satellite and OTT customers. That would give them greater economy of scale and simplify operations and support. (In the case of satellite users, the box would have to be paired with a central home server, which contains the actual satellite tuners and DVR hard drive.)
DirecTV to Launch Android TV-Based OTT Set-Top Box (EXCLUSIVE)
AFAIK the only satellite that was cancelled was T17, which was never officially announced. T16 hasn't been officially announced either, but
Unless you live in Iraq or Syria, hopefully fuel-air explosions are pretty rare in your city, and not worth worrying about!
Unless you live in Iraq or Syria, hopefully fuel-air explosions are pretty rare in your city, and not worth worrying about!
I think the transition away from satellite is being overhyped. AT&T's CEO likes to talk about it in quarterly calls because it is what the analysts want to hear. They think "satellite = old & tired, streaming = new hotness", and want to hear AT&T's plans. The story changes so much because either they don't know what they're going to do and their plans are changing, or they are testing the waters with various scenarios to see the analysts like best. Unfortunately compensation for corporate executives leaves them focused on short term stock price bumps, not long term value creation, so if they could do something that would double the stock price today and guarantee bankruptcy in a decade they'd happily do it and be sure they retired and sold all their stock before the convertible ran off the cliff.
There are enough markets/customers where getting rid of satellite isn't feasible that it will be around for a long time. The people who think they will dump it in five years are on crack - they are building a new satellite which has NOT been canceled (there were originally rumors of two, T16 & T17, and T17 was presumably canceled but was also presumably for 119 which they don't have reason to keep using after 2019 so it makes sense) Like I've posted before, it costs them a bit over 50 cents per customer per month to maintain their satellite fleet, including replacement every 15 years. Even if they lost 3/4 of their satellite customers and were down to only 5 million that would be $2 per month per customer.
Not to mention that satellite is FAR more profitable for them than streaming is today, because they charge WAY higher prices for their satellite product. Maybe someday the prices of the two will be roughly equivalent, and if your product comes with equipment you'll buy/lease it, and you will pay for the dish install over time with a $10/month surcharge for the first year (kind of like the "free" cell phone deals) or get it for free as a promo. The low prices of streaming packages today are not sustainable, just as the high prices of cable/satellite packages today are not sustainable. I expect they will eventually meet somewhere in the middle.
There are enough markets/customers where getting rid of satellite isn't feasible that it will be around for a long time. The people who think they will dump it in five years are on crack - they are building a new satellite which has NOT been canceled (there were originally rumors of two, T16 & T17, and T17 was presumably canceled but was also presumably for 119 which they don't have reason to keep using after 2019 so it makes sense) Like I've posted before, it costs them a bit over 50 cents per customer per month to maintain their satellite fleet, including replacement every 15 years. Even if they lost 3/4 of their satellite customers and were down to only 5 million that would be $2 per month per customer.
Not to mention that satellite is FAR more profitable for them than streaming is today, because they charge WAY higher prices for their satellite product. Maybe someday the prices of the two will be roughly equivalent, and if your product comes with equipment you'll buy/lease it, and you will pay for the dish install over time with a $10/month surcharge for the first year (kind of like the "free" cell phone deals) or get it for free as a promo. The low prices of streaming packages today are not sustainable, just as the high prices of cable/satellite packages today are not sustainable. I expect they will eventually meet somewhere in the middle.
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