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AT&T U-Verse coming to west Michigan


francishsu

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Don't know if anyone's posted this, but AT&T is looking to rapidly enter the west Michigan television market with their U-verse TV/Internet offering. I'm thankful for the additional competition to cable and satellite, but apparantly there's some state legislation that essentially forces local governments to accept AT&T's entry on AT&T's terms.

Kalamazoo Gazette: AT&T will add jobs downtown

GR Press: Communities balk at AT&T TV service

GR Press: Cascade Twp.: Board wants say over AT&T boxes

Any opinions? Do the benefits of new jobs and competition provided by AT&T U-verse outweigh the local governments getting little to no say in how the service is implemented? What restrictions can a township/city put the 4-5 foot high utility box (required for every 300 homes) that can be placed on any public utility easement?

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Don't know if anyone's posted this, but AT&T is looking to rapidly enter the west Michigan television market with their U-verse TV/Internet offering. I'm thankful for the additional competition to cable and satellite, but apparantly there's some state legislation that essentially forces local governments to accept AT&T's entry on AT&T's terms.

Kalamazoo Gazette: AT&T will add jobs downtown

GR Press: Communities balk at AT&T TV service

GR Press: Cascade Twp.: Board wants say over AT&T boxes

Any opinions? Do the benefits of new jobs and competition provided by AT&T U-verse outweigh the local governments getting little to no say in how the service is implemented? What restrictions can a township/city put the 4-5 foot high utility box (required for every 300 homes) that can be placed on any public utility easement?

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I can't wait for someone to compete with Comcast for local cable... I don't have any other options because of living in a complex that won't allow us to do direcTV or Dish Network. We have AT&T internet and phone at home with AT&T wireless and we have never had anything but great service and reliable product for half the cost of Comcast. I *HATE* the Comcast commercials bashing AT&T. That lady is crazy annoying!

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Glad to hear you've gotten good service from AT&T. Years ago, when I was an SBC/Ameritech customer, I did not like dealing with their customer service at all. I have had problems with Comcast, but ultimately they end up correcting the issue. I've got a pretty sweet deal with Comcast right now though.. but should they choose to force me to change my plan, I'll now have a viable backup for TV/Internet.

Also, I've read that AT&T U-Verse does not require you to get their landline phone service, which has prevented me from trying out their DSL in the past.

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I can't wait to see AT&T Uverse come to town. Dish Network has been giving me grief for awhile now. Directv seems to want people to jump through too many hoops to get on their service. Comast are a bunch of rip off artists charging too much money for service so bad that one sees bullet proof glass shielding customer service reps from irate customers. AT&T's DSL service has been good to me so far. So I'd give Uverse a try when it gets here.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm really encouraging my roommates to just get rid of cable tv altogether. It's just a waste of money no matter where you go. I have Charter here in Greenville and because they're basically the only cable tv provider here, they like to suck you in with those 6 or 12 month deals and then after your promotion is up your bill is jacked up 30-50 dollars more a month.

Then, you have to call them and argue that you do not want to pay that much and just want the lowest available package that you can get - and then what they proceed to offer you costs more than what you originally paid for. Then, you have to basically bust an artery and call them every name in the book until you get your discounted price (which does work).

One should not have to have a leash on their necks and do tricks for your cable companies whenever you want the best deals.

I say - watch television on the internet. A lot of websites are available where you can watch your shows for free. And if you know how to connect your computer to your TV - you've got yourself made and only paying for Internet Service. It's called killing two birds with one stone :thumbsup:

You could also take your rebate check and go invest in an AppleTV to connect to your tv. You don't even need a Mac computer anymore to use it (or any computer for that matter). You can listen to all your music, rent movies, buy tv shows, and if you have a mac or pc computer - you can watch videos that you may have -cough- downloaded.

I recommend everyone to sign up for hulu.com -- It's a site that let's you watch some of the newest shows for free - and even some older ones are on there as well. Huge variety - a few commercials in them in between...but it's free and legal.

I intend in the future to never purchase cable television again for this reason. Waste. Of. Money.

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I'm really encouraging my roommates to just get rid of cable tv altogether. It's just a waste of money no matter where you go. I have Charter here in Greenville and because they're basically the only cable tv provider here, they like to suck you in with those 6 or 12 month deals and then after your promotion is up your bill is jacked up 30-50 dollars more a month.

Then, you have to call them and argue that you do not want to pay that much and just want the lowest available package that you can get - and then what they proceed to offer you costs more than what you originally paid for. Then, you have to basically bust an artery and call them every name in the book until you get your discounted price (which does work).

One should not have to have a leash on their necks and do tricks for your cable companies whenever you want the best deals.

I say - watch television on the internet. A lot of websites are available where you can watch your shows for free. And if you know how to connect your computer to your TV - you've got yourself made and only paying for Internet Service. It's called killing two birds with one stone :thumbsup:

You could also take your rebate check and go invest in an AppleTV to connect to your tv. You don't even need a Mac computer anymore to use it (or any computer for that matter). You can listen to all your music, rent movies, buy tv shows, and if you have a mac or pc computer - you can watch videos that you may have -cough- downloaded.

I recommend everyone to sign up for hulu.com -- It's a site that let's you watch some of the newest shows for free - and even some older ones are on there as well. Huge variety - a few commercials in them in between...but it's free and legal.

I intend in the future to never purchase cable television again for this reason. Waste. Of. Money.

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You should ask for the most basic cable package. they don't advertise it and the only way you will get it is if you specificially ask for it. my cable bill is 13 or 14 dollars a month and that is not promotional. I only get the broadcast channels and a couple of others, probably 25 or so in all, but you can't beat the price. and those channels have most of the things I would want to watch.
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  • 1 month later...

I saw a story on WoodTV.com about U-Verse this morning, but its still not available for my address (Diamond and Wealthy area). I did a little checking and it's available in EGR.

Some things I noticed:

They package the DVR with the programming for almost all the packages and it makes their rates pretty competitive.

They note that all receivers are HD ready, but there is still a $10/mo charge to have HD programming

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Here's an article in the GR Press about the U-verse rollout:

AT&T enters battle for pay TV in GR

My address in Wyoming also shows that it's unavailable. I think they're going to gradually add more availability in the next six months.

Finally found an address in GR that worked, just so that I could look at the pricing. It's pretty competitive for what you get, although it would cost me an additional $20/month to switch from Comcast (only because I have a package that can no longer be obtained).

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  • 3 months later...
One thing they misrepresent is the speed and the use of fiber. It is not fiber to your house or even fiber to your street, its fiber to a local switch, and twisted pair copper from there to your house. Twisted pair max speed is 10Mb. The sales guys pitch the fiber speed which is irrelevant because the slowest link is your max speed.
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  • 1 month later...

I am thinking about getting AT&T U-verse. I do however want to know that for those who do have it, how has it been for you? Also, if I go with them, I may do a bundle with the TV, internet, phone and all that sort of stuff. Also, what's the best package I could go with that's cheap? I currently have Dish network which costs me $56 a month and while it has been good, when weather hits, we lose the signal. That was mainly due to storms. Now I am quite concerned about winter and dish network. The dish is up on the roof. With phone and internet from AT&T, I currently pay over $70 a month on those. Hopefully I can get some help in this matter.

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