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Dish Corrects Software Glitch / Uverse Notes
October 30, 2007
Last week we reported on problems Dish Network customers were having with their HD DVR’s. Today those folks who spent the last week posting their gripes about the software woke up happy this morning to find that their problems were fixed with an overnight software update.
Overnight those customers who have a Dish Network 622 or 722 HD DVR and received the L446 software upgrade last week (which added the DishONLINE video on demand service) were upgraded to L447. With the L446 software many customers flooded internet discussion forums upset that their recordings of their favorite network shows that were recorded via an over the air antenna had no sound when played back.
I applaud Dan Minnick and his crew for quickly fixing this bug, and issuing this quick fix to their customers.
IPTV is it TV?
Since I live in Connecticut one of the big news stories as of late here has been is IPTV really TV. The State of Connecticut has told AT&T that if they want to roll out their UVERSE service here in Connecticut then AT&T needs to get a cable television license.
AT&T is trying to say that IPTV is not the same as cable TV and thus should not require a cable television license.
From where I sit, I agree with the state and that AT&T should indeed have a cable television license to roll out its service here in the state. In addition I also believe that AT&T Uverse should fund and provide local public access and government access in the communities it serves.
You don’t see cable companies saying that it’s digital cable service is not cable television because it’s digital. AT&T delivers its Uverse service to customers home by using the existing copper telephone lines going to the customers’ home. It uses the same telephone poles and infrastructure that the cable companies do, and AT&T goes a step further by hanging large units called “Vrads” which convert the fiber optic Uverse feeds to be muxed onto the copper phone lines. These big ugly looking boxes are required in all neighborhoods in order for Uverse to work. When the Uverse signal comes into the customer’s home, a residential gateway and converter box are used to convert the signals to be received by the customer’s television set. For most customers they don’t know or care how the signal gets to their TV, they just want their favorite channels on their televisions.
AT&T has threatened the state saying that if they are required to have a cable tv license they will take their ball and go home. This has sparked a lot of political debate as if AT&T shuts down Uverse there will be a lot of folks out of work in the state. Yet if nothing is done by the state then AT&T will have free reign to do what they want while existing cable systems will be forced to continue jumping through hoops and government red tape to continue to operate. Why should cable systems continue to operate, pay franchise fees and try to expand their offerings if the phone company can come in any area of the state that they want and begin offering a competing product without neededing to deal with all the red tape cable operators must deal with?
One thing AT&T should remember about IPTV, take out the first two letters and it’s still only TV.
Posted by Scott Greczkowski on October 30, 2007 | Comments (7)
