AT&T U-verse TV now carries at least 115 HD channels in all markets after adding five national services -- Cartoon Network HD, MSNBC HD, TV One HD, Trinity Broadcasting Network HD and WFN: World Fishing Network HD -- and also offers new international programming channels in Filipino and Cantonese.
With the latest additions, AT&T said, it has launched 30 HD channels this year. The 115 HD channels "continues to exceed the HD channels offered by the major local cable providers in every U-verse TV market," the company claims. DirecTV, meanwhile, touts more than 130 HDs and Dish Network advertises 120; Verizon FiOS TV claims to offer more than 127 HD channels.
AT&T's U-verse TV service is delivered on a fiber-to-the-node infrastructure, and uses DSL as the last-mile connection. Currently U-verse TV allows only two HD channels to be accessed by a subscriber at one time, while its whole-home DVR feature provides for a maximum of three recorded HD streams to be watched at one time.
U-verse TV HD customers now have access to Cartoon Network HD, MSNBC HD and TV One HD, and will receive access to Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) HD on Dec. 15. To get WFN: World Fishing Network HD, customers must subscribe to the HD Premium Tier, which is $5 extra per month.
Last week, AT&T announced that it had signed up 2 million subscribers for the IPTV service.
AT&T has also added VivaTV Plus, featuring 24-hour Filipino-language programming, as part of the Filipino Package; Hong Kong's TVBe is also now available for Cantonese viewers for $17 a month.
