Report: AT&T Stops Making U-verse TV Boxes

AT&T has stopped making set-tops for its U-verse TV service as the telco focuses video efforts on the lower-cost DirecTV platform and looks to head down a technology path that could eventually phase out its current IPTV platform, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Bloomberg noted that AT&T, which closed its acquisition of DirecTV last July, is working on a centralized home gateway platform that, within the next three years, will consolidate all of the company’s services, but stressed that AT&T isn’t shutting down U-verse and is letting currently U-verse TV subs stay on the platform. But new customers are being steered to the DirecTV platform.

“To realize the many benefits of our DirecTV acquisition, we are leading our video marketing approach with DirecTV,” an AT&T spokesperson told Bloomberg. “However, our first priority is to listen to our customers and meet their needs, and if we determine a customer will be better served with the U-verse product, we offer attractive and compelling options.”

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