Birds do it, bees do it… wait, wait, wait, wrong song. Intel wants to do it, Microsoft and Google could do it, Verizon is kinda doing it, and now, AT&T?
No, not falling in love, but launching a streaming video service. Could it be the mythical Virtual MSO?
AT&T, according to Variety, last month sent out a survey to U-verse subscribers to test the waters, assessing their interest in a “new video and Internet service.â€
According to Variety, the survey referred to streaming to users’ devices without an STB or receiver, and said it could include local broadcast channels, sports and entertainment cable channels and OTT services like Netflix. It also referred to the OTT Holy Grail: QoE in the forms of picture quality and reduced streaming issues.
The survey also asks about interest in the service if it were available at a “significantly lower price than traditional pay TV services.†And, no usage charges. And, a WiFi router. And, a 6 MB Internet connection. And, content would be available on a plethora of mobile devices, connected TVs, Blu-ray players and game consoles.
Seriously. We’re talking pipe dreams here, right? Especially the low-cost part with all those add ons?
But, before you file this away as nonsense, consider that AT&T taking a step toward a big play in the OTT world isn’t at all out of the question.
In February, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, during an appearance in Boulder, Colo., said he’s not at all worried about pressure from OTT providers. AT&T, he said, makes a lot more money from its broadband product than it does from its 4.5 million U-verse subscribers.
“If the world moves to the OTT video model, that doesn’t keep me awake at night,” he said. “Our money is made off the broadband product … The consumer who acquires video off our broadband is not a bad model for us.”
