AT&T has come out and raised its estimate for completing its network build out and launch of its U-verse IPTV system, saying that it will spend $1.4 billion more than originally planned.
AT&T as SBC back in October 2004 first announced its plan, calling it Project Lightspeed, where it said it would build out 38,800 miles of fiber, at a cost of between $4 billion and $6 billion, to provide integrated IP-based television, ultra-high-speed broadband, IP voice and wireless bundles of products and services.
The costs had been cited subsequently as closer to the lower end of that estimate, but now AT&T says it will spend more, possibly as much as $6.5 billion by 2008.
Some reports suggest that the cost increases comes from adding more servers, to deal with HD offerings, but the company insists publicly that it’s happy with its investment.
The Wall Street Journal said that AT&T’s IPTV system now passes 2.8 million homes, and that subscribers have reached 20,000, compared to . Verizon’s 348,000 FiOS TV subscribers. Even those AT&T numbers appear generous to us.