AT&T will soon offer a set-top box for a DirecTV streaming service that won’t require an installer to come to your home. The company is currently testing a beta version of the product and hopes to launch early 2019, according to AT&T CFO John Stephens yesterday.
Stephen’s said customers would get “the full-service premium package that we would normally deliver off satellite or over our IP-based U-verse service.”
It does seem odd that DirecTV, being a satellite company, would be offering a streaming service. But it might be part of AT&T’s plan to eventually streamline their DIRECTV and U-verse products.
It will also be interesting to see how the service works with other ISPs, given the fact AT&T isn’t available everywhere. “We certainly hope it’s our own fiber but it could be on anybody’s broadband,” commented Stephens.
Stephens didn’t mention anything about the streaming product supporting 4k video. Currently, DirecTV customers who want 4k need to have a professional installer come to their homes. The new set-top box that runs off an internet connection, like the Roku or Apple TV, woudl just need sufficient internet speed. (Read: How To Get 4k/HDR on DirecTV)
For AT&T, the cost of acquiring new customers would obviously go down, as self-installed boxes wouldn’t require any labor or transportation costs from their end.
But it still requires a set top box? Welcome to 1998.they just cant give up those equipment rental fees, lol. What a joke.