Following initial deployments in California and Nevada late last month, AT&T has introduced a new, faster U-verse “Power” tier that maxes out at 45 Mbps downstream and 6 Mbps upstream in 40 additional markets, including Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, and New Orleans.
With the latest batch of launches, the new tier is now offered in 17 states in U-verse's 22-state footprint, a spokeswoman said via email. More than half of U-verse subs in those markets are eligible for the U-verse Power offering, she said.
AT&T is selling the new tier to residential customers in qualifying areas for an introductory price of $49.95 per month when it is bundled with U-verse TV and voice services, and agree to a two-year contract. Following the introductory offer period, the Power offering fetches $76 per month.
Prior to Power, AT&T U-verse’s fastest broadband tier was Max Turbo, which delivers up to 24 Mbps downstream for about $66 per month. Other U-verse Internet tiers include Max Plus (18 Mbps down, $56 per month); Max (12 Mbps down, $51 per month); Elite (6 Mbps down, $46 per month); and Pro (3 Mbps down, $41 per month).
By comparison, most of AT&T's cable competitors have rolled out DOCSIS 3.0 services that offer at least 50 Mbps down, with many already supporting tiers that provide downstream bursts of 100 Mbps or more.
AT&T, which ended the second quarter with 9.1 million U-verse Internet subs, has plans underway to bump downstream speeds to 100 Mbps. AT&T said it will expand the Power tier to more markets “on an ongoing basis,” but did not say when it expects to complete the rollout.
The speed upgrades are tied to Project Velocity IP (VIP), a three-year capex infusion that will see AT&T expand the U-verse footprint by another 8.5 million homes, giving it a total penetration of 33 million homes, and fuel the deployment of the telco’s Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless network.
The following cities and towns are included in the latest round of Power upgrades:
- Birmingham, Ala.
- Huntsville-Decatur-Florence, Ala.
- Mobile, Ala.
- Hartford, Conn.
- New Haven, Conn.
- Jacksonville, Fla.
- Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
- Orlando, Fla.
- West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Fla.
- Atlanta, Ga.
- Champaign, Ill.
- Chicago, Ill.
- Indianapolis, Ind.
- South Bend-Elkhart, Ind.
- Louisville, Ky.
- Baton Rouge, La.
- New Orleans Metro, La.
- Detroit, Mich.
- Flint-Saginaw, Mich.
- Grand Rapids, Mich.
- Lansing, Mich.
- Biloxi-Gulfport, Miss.
- Jackson, Miss.
- Charlotte, N.C.
- Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem, N.C.
- Raleigh, N.C.
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Columbus, Ohio
- Dayton, Ohio
- Toledo, Ohio
- Charleston, S.C.
- Columbia, S.C.
- Greenville, S.C.
- Chattanooga, Tenn.
- Knoxville, Tenn.
- Memphis, Tenn.
- Nashville, Tenn.
- Green Bay-Appleton, Wis.
- Madison, Wis.
- Milwaukee, Wis.
