DIRECTV Delays New HD-DVR

DIRECTV recently announced that it is delaying the launch of its new High-Definition TV DVR until the fall. The company initially said the HD-DVR would be available in the spring of this year, but has changed their prediction several times during the last few months. They have continued adding local HDTV channels to their satellite broadcasts in numerous major markets, but until the HD-DVR becomes available, the only way to watch those broadcasts is live. Satellite Rival Dish Network has had a comparable HD-DVR on the market since February.

AOL Looks to Lure Users With Online Video Site

AOL, the Internet branch of Time Warner Inc., is revamping its online video Web site with more than 45 video-on-demand channels and an improved search engine to attract broadband users. Aolvideo.com will allow users to watch music videos and movie trailers from companies such as MTV and Warner Bros. They will begin testing the site on Aug. 4 and then make it available to all viewers on Aug. 22.

The video-on-demand online channels will offer TV programs such as "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "Laguna Beach" for $1.99 per episode, and the site may eventually sell movies to download. AOL will also make money from selling online ads as users watch movie trailers and home-made videos for free as part of their initiative to break into the lucrative online video search market currently dominated by Yahoo! and Google.

DVRs Boosting TV Viewing?

According to new research, adults in households that have digital video recorders (DVRs) actually watch less TV than adults in the general population. The findings by Mediamark Research, an audience-measurement firm, seem to conflict with major broadcast network researchers who told advertisers in November that people in households with a DVR watched 12 percent more hours of TV a day than those without. David F. Poltrack, chief research officer for CBS, said the Mediamark numbers were unreliable, because they were derived from people's often-low reports of their own TV watching. The figures suggesting that adults who use a DVR watch more television come from Arbitron's 2,000-person machine-recorded survey in the spring of 2005, but it covered only the Houston market.

Verizon's "Unlimited" Has Its Limits

While Verizon Wireless proudly claims its wireless "Broadband Access" service is unlimited, some customers are finding Verizon's definition doesn't match their expectations. The service uses a technology called EV-DO that allows users to access the Internet at high speeds from their laptops, just about anywhere. Verizon labels this service "broadband" because it has average download speeds of 400-700 kilobytes per second. However, when customers use it like they would other broadband connections, Verizon is likely to cancel their account, according to ConsumerAffairs.com.

Under Verizon's terms and conditions, the company hardly goes out of its way to explain the limits on their definition of "unlimited broadband access." Customers who take the time to read the fine print will find that "services cannot be used: (1) for uploading, downloading or streaming of movies, music or games; (2) with server devices or with host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, Voice over IP (VoIP), automated machine-to-machine connections, or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing." Jeffrey Nelson, Verizon Wireless spokesman, said that calling the service "unlimited" is not misleading. "It's very clear in all the legal materials we put out," he said. "It's unlimited amounts of data for certain types of data."

FCC Removes DSL Network-Sharing Rules

In a 4-0 decision last week, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to end regulations requiring incumbent telecommunications carriers to share their DSL broadband connections with competitors. The regulations allowed competitors such as Earthlink to offer their DSL services over lines owned by telecommunication giants AT&T and Verizon. While larger Internet service providers (ISPs) like Earthlink have agreements with these companies allowing them to offer service over the lines, smaller ISPs may be left in the dark after the DSL network-sharing rules end in a year. Read more about the decision in the article FCC Removes DSL Network-Sharing Rules.

AT&T Gives Grant to the National Urban League

The AT&T Foundation, the philanthropic arm of AT&T Inc., recently announced a $1.6 million AT&T AccessAll grant to the National Urban League to support opportunities for technology-career development for African Americans. Announced at the Urban League's national conference today in Atlanta, the AT&T Foundation grant will launch five new Digital Career Academies, as well as expand offerings at 11 existing academies located across the country. The grant is part of the three-year $100 million AT&T AccessAll initiative to provide technology access to underserved communities.

The Digital Career Academies program builds on the success of a 2004 AT&T Foundation grant initiative, which provided $1,070,000 to the National Urban League to launch the initial 11 technology career academies. Through the program, the Urban League provided information-technology career training in computer and video-game programming, 3-D animation, digital radio and IT administration.

Verizon Gets Even Faster

Verizon will widen its broadband speed advantage over other telecom and cable TV companies by installing equipment from Alcatel, Motorola and Tellabs that will dramatically increase speeds on the company's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network. Verizon plans to deploy the Alcatel equipment first, to be followed by Motorola and Tellabs, though this is subject to finalizing definitive agreements.

Initially, the new equipment will be capable of increasing broadband speeds by up to four times downstream to the customer's home and by up to eight times upstream back to the Internet on Verizon's FTTP network. To read more about what Verizon will be able to offer their DSL customers, you can read this Verizon press release.

EMBARQ Chooses Visage Mobile

EMBARQ recently announced that Visage Mobile, the leading enabler of private-label wireless services, will provide the wireless operations platform for EMBARQ's wireless product offer that launched in June. The deal allows EMBARQ, the fifth largest local exchange carrier in the United States, to deliver integrated telecom bundles that include wireless service enabled by Visage Mobile.

TiVo and BellSouth announce a joint marketing campaign

Beginning this week, BellSouth and TiVo will launch the first of a variety of co-marketing initiatives that promote BellSouth FastAccess DSL and TiVo. Through an agreement with TiVo, select FastAccess DSL subscribers will receive special pricing on the TiVo box and service. These customers can further enhance their already reliable, high-speed Internet service with TiVo's broadband applications, including online scheduling, TiVoToGo transfers, TiVo Guru Guide recommendations, streaming radio, movie browsing and TiVo's easy-to-use Home Media features.

"TiVo is pleased to work with BellSouth on this powerful marketing initiative," said Naveen Chopra, vice president of business development at TiVo. "With its strong southeastern presence and renowned customer satisfaction, BellSouth is uniquely positioned to market the benefits of a broadband-connected TiVo Box. Together, we can turn a DSL Internet connection into a pipeline for video content delivered directly to the television." You can read this BellSouth press release to find out more about this marketing initiative.

AT&T Places Future on Its Brand

Stephanie posted in May about AT&T phasing out the Cingular brand, and it looks like AT&T plans to continue the trend when its purchase of BellSouth is approved. AT&T is banking its future on the fact that, despite problems in the past, it is still the most recognizable name in the phone business. Like Verizon and other telecommunications companies, AT&T is also selling bundles of services and wants to have a single brand for all its products.

"The BellSouth and Cingular names are not just at the iconic level globally," said Wendy Clark, vice president for advertising at AT&T, in a recent New York Times article. "When you have an integrated solution, the nomenclature of wireless and wireline will become blurred to the point where you need a single brand. It's about one-stop shopping." The rebranding effort will be a large undertaking, and not without risks. BellSouth and Cingular don't have the history of the AT&T brand, but the companies currently have a more than 70 million customers between them.

AT&T also plans to organize a national campaign to reintroduce its brand. The company declined to provide specifics about the campaign, but said the scale and message would be in line with their current efforts to rename SBC, which has included a redesigned blue globe and the catchphrase "Your World. Delivered."

You can read more about AT&T's plan in the New York Times article AT&T Bets Its Brand Is More Than Nostalgia.