AT&T ordered to acquire licence for IPTV

The Attorney General of Connecticut, USA, Richard Blumenthal, has urgently requested that AT&T should acquire a cable licence for its U-verse IPTV service.

Blumenthal filed an emergency request with state regulator the Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC), asking it to order AT&T to stop selling its IPTV service while it applies for franchise approval.

Blumenthal’s request follows a recent ruling by a US District Court that IPTV comes under the same rules as cable television. He believes that this requires AT&T to obtain a state-wide franchise license which would require it to offer IPTV to all homes in the area.

There is concern that AT&T has been targeting affluent areas for its new TV service, while not providing the service to urban areas where incomes are lower.

AT&T denies this claim, and argues that Blumenthal’s emergency petition is an anti-consumer measure. It says that forcing it to apply for a franchise would increase costs to consumers and delay the rollout of its U-verse IPTV service.

Blumenthal believes that the move will make the TV market in Connecticut more competitive and take it out of the control of ‘unregulated monopolies’.

AT&T started rolling out IPTV program in December, in nine towns and cities, and has been expanding aggressively.