More Than 3 Million California Living Units Can Now Benefit From Video Choice With AT&T U-verse TV

More Than 3 Million California Living Units Can Now Benefit From Video Choice With AT&T U-verse TV

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Video choice and competition has reached California consumers in a big way in hundreds of cities across the Golden State. AT&T* today announced that AT&T U-verse(SM) services, including AT&T U-verse TV, AT&T U-verse High Speed Internet and AT&T U-verse Voice, are now available to more than 3 million living units across the state - less than three years after launching the services in California.

Since introducing AT&T U-verse in California in December 2006, AT&T has continued its efforts to make the service more widely available to consumers. AT&T U-verse is currently offered in parts of 225 cities and counties across the state. Between 2006 and 2008, AT&T invested nearly $7.9 billion in its wireless and wireline networks in California, which helped facilitate the roll out of AT&T U-verse services across the state.

The rapid rollout of AT&T U-verse was made possible in California by "The Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006." The legislation was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger in September, 2006, and went into effect January 1, 2007. This legislation has helped bring California 21st century technology through a streamlined, state-issued video franchise allowing new competitors into the marketplace and offering Californians a new choice for home entertainment.

"The California Legislature had a vision of bringing consumers new choices and increased competition for video services," said Ken McNeely, President, AT&T California. "I'm proud of the progress AT&T has made in the last three years in bringing U-verse to California. We look forward to continuing our investment to make this service available to even more consumers in the future."

"The investment required to bring new services to three million California homes is just what is needed in the state right now," said Assembly member Joe Coto (D- San Jose). "This kind of commitment to California is what the legislature envisioned when it passed the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act in 2006. The result has been billions of dollars of investment into California's digital infrastructure and new jobs for the people of our state."

"I have always believed that choice and competition in the marketplace benefits consumers," said Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle. "AT&T's commitment to deliver a choice for video and high-speed Internet to the residents of Anaheim, and to hundreds of other cities across the state, has only reinforced this belief. Consumers win when businesses compete."

"Since the video legislation passed, it's been great to see AT&T and other carriers invest in new infrastructure and create new jobs," said Don Knabe, Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. "The end result has been new choices for consumers from across Los Angeles County."

"Now even more consumers in California can see what the U-verse TV experience is all about," said Fred Devereux, President, Mobility and Consumer Markets, AT&T West. "As we continue to showcase the AT&T U-verse TV experience to Californians and evolve our services with new features and enhancements, we look forward to more and more customers learning why U-verse TV is such a unique and exciting service."

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 Customer Satisfaction in the West Region Two Years in a Row," according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 and 2009 Residential Television Service Provider Satisfaction Studies(SM).

Since the initial launch in California, AT&T U-verse has introduced several enhancements to U-verse TV customers at no extra cost including:

   --  Total Home DVR, which gives you the freedom to watch and manage       recordings from a single DVR on any connected TV in the house.   --  U-verse TV Multiview, a new app that lets you watch up to four       channels at once on your TV screen.   --  Regular additions to the U-verse High Definition (HD) channel lineup,       which now offers access to more than 110 HD channels -- more than the       local cable providers.   --  Mobile Remote Access to the DVR, which gives you the ability to       program DVR recordings from your Web-connected mobile phone.   --  AT&T U-bar, which gives you personalized, on-screen weather, sports,       traffic and stock information.   --  Media Share, which lets you stream your personal photos and music       files located on your home computers to any connected TV in the home.   --  Weather On Demand, an app that gives you instant access to check the       current weather conditions and detailed forecasts in any U.S. city.   --  Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football, an app to help you manage your fantasy       teams from your U-verse TV screen through the AT&T U-bar.   --  College Basketball from Yahoo! Sports, which gives basketball fans the       ability to view tournament brackets, their personalized completed       bracket, game summaries and box scores, and more through the AT&T       U-bar during the basketball season.   --  Online Photos from Flickr, an app that lets you view personal photos       on your TV that you have uploaded to flickr.com.   --  TV Awards and New Shows, a new app that helps you stay on top of this       season's award shows and season premieres.   --  A 20 percent speed increase for AT&T U-verse Internet Max customers       from up to 10 Mbps to up to 12 Mbps downstream.    --  Continued enhancements to the U-verse Web and Mobile Remote Access       applications to deliver more functionality and a new user interface.    

AT&T also expanded its U-verse offers with the introduction of AT&T U-verse Voice in California. U-verse Voice is a managed IP-based digital voice service that is delivered over the AT&T's fiber-rich network. This allows U-verse Voice customers to enjoy great sound quality and reliability, as well as unmatched calling features that combine with your AT&T U-verse TV, broadband and wireless services.

AT&T U-verse customers enjoy quadruple-play integration, enhanced features and greater value, all made possible by IP technology. For additional information on AT&T U-verse -- or to find out if it's available in your area -- visit http://uverse.att.com/, call 800-ATT-2020 or visit a local AT&T location.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates - AT&T operating companies - are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest 3G network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services. AT&T offers the best wireless coverage worldwide, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse(SM) and AT&T |DIRECTV(SM) brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T's Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations are known for their leadership in directory publishing and advertising sales. In 2009, AT&T again ranked No. 1 in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE® magazine's list of the World's Most Admired Companies.

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com/. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATTNews. Find us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ATT to discover more about our consumer and wireless services or at www.facebook.com/ATTSmallBiz to discover more about our small business services.

© 2009 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies.

IMPORTANT OFFER INFORMATION: Geographic and service restrictions apply to AT&T U-verse. Call or go to www.uverse.att.com to see if you qualify. All promotional offers expire 3/20/10. Residential customers only; Prices, programming, and offers subject to change without notice HD Service. A monthly $10 HD Technology Fee applies for access to HD service. Subscription to an AT&T U-verse programming package and an HDTV required for optimized HD viewing experience. HD channel availability varies by package selected. HD Premium Tier available for an additional $5 per month and requires subscription to HD service for $10 per month. THDVR: Four channels can be recorded to the DVR or viewed simultaneously, up to 2 can be HD, subject to availability. Full Total Home DVR functionality requires a receiver for each additional TV at $7 per month each. DVR not included with U100 or U-basic packages. Media Share requires Windows XP or Vista operating systems and streams only photos or songs that are supported by Microsoft Media Player. Multiview: Channels/content available for viewing in Multiview are based on TV package subscription and additional programming purchased.

AT&T U-verse services are provided by AT&T local telephone companies. Customizing options require AT&T U-verse High Speed Internet Service. Wireless phone with Internet access required and standard data charges may apply.

AT&T U-verse received the highest numerical score among television service providers in the West in the proprietary J.D. Power and Associates 2008-2009 Residential Television Service Satisfaction Studies(SM). 2009 study based on 28,118 total responses from measuring 10 providers in the West (AZ, CA, CO, ID, IA, MN, MT, NE, NV, NM, ND, OR, SD, UT, WA, WY) and measures consumer satisfaction with television service. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of consumers surveyed in January, March and June, 2009. Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: AT&T Inc.

CONTACT: John Britton of AT&T Inc., +1-415-778-1350,
John.Britton@att.com

Web Site: http://www.att.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment