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AT&T has boosted the maximum available broadband speed for its U-verse Internet offering to 45/6Mbps service in 40 cities across 15 states.
The broadband speed boost is part of AT&T’s Project Velocity IP (VIP), a three-year plan to expand U-verse’s capabilities and coverage into more communities within AT&T’s local landline service areas.
Most of the funding for Project VIP is being directed into expanding AT&T’s profitable wireless 4G network, but about $6 billion will be spent upgrading AT&T’s aging copper wireline facilities.
A big priority for AT&T is to retire copper-based distribution networks and replacing that wiring with fiber optics. U-verse depends on a significant amount of fiber to provide enough bandwidth for its television, phone and broadband service. But unlike Verizon FiOS, which delivers a fiber connection straight to the home, AT&T still relies on traditional copper wiring into the home.
Until AT&T replaces that copper with fiber, top broadband speeds are unlikely to keep up with its biggest competitor — cable broadband.
AT&T’s says the 45Mbps speed boost represents an incremental upgrade and plans further speed increases to 75Mbps.
In more rural areas, U-verse will rely on IPDSLAM technology to increase speeds up to 45Mbps. AT&T eventually hopes to further bump download speeds to 100Mbps.
For the most rural communities within its service area, AT&T hopes to offer service exclusively over its wireless network, eventually scrapping rural landlines altogether.
[flv width=”480″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KTAL Shreveport U-verse Coming to Louisiana 8-23-13.mp4[/flv]
KTAL-TV reports AT&T’s upgraded U-verse could soon be coming to Shreveport, La. as part of Project VIP, which may give Comcast some much-needed competition in the Ark-La-Tex region. (3 minutes)
This article is not entirely true and I would hate for the legislatures of Raleigh, NC to get the wrong impression. I live within Raleigh City limits and my neighborhood has zero access to AT&T’s U-Verse offering. In fact, I have actually heard that our neighborhood some how managed to have a side arrangement (probably at the developer level) where AT&T isn’t even able to bring U-Verse into this neighborhood, though again we are within Raleigh City limits.
AT&T has won the right from the North Carolina state legislature’s statewide franchise law to meander the rollout of U-verse more or less on its own schedule. It could take several years for service to reach all of the AT&T urban service areas in North Carolina. If you reside in a gated-type community or have some sort of neighborhood association, it sounds like they have signed a deal with Time Warner Cable to own the wiring infrastructure and possible bundle cable service into your homeowner/property management dues. AT&T can still technically provide service, but has an economic disadvantage to try… Read more »
“In more rural areas, U-verse will rely on IPDSLAM technology to increase speeds up to 45Mbps. “..
Even in more urban areas, on the list… they have deployed IPDSL.. ie Milwaukee,WI where portions are VDSL / VDSL2 and the rest IPDSL. Also without pair-bonding.. In n my case, they haven’t bothered to upgrade my side of the neighborhood in the year since I had service setup. . Still stuck at 6 Meg.. and going to ditch it for cable.
In Wisconsin, another very AT&T-friendly state, the governor and the Republican legislature has paved a road of bliss for AT&T to offer service more or less as it sees fit. AT&T’s attitude seems to be “when we get around to it” for service upgrades with no real compelling conditions to encourage them to move faster.