AT&T won't be reaching 18 million homes this year with its "Lightspeed" U-Verse IPTV & VDSL broadband network, giving more credence to my AT&T U-Verse Doomed? article. The ironic thing is that AT&T just a few days go stated it was ready for an aggressive rollout of U-verse. They told the San Antonio Express News that it had ironed out technical glitches with the service and is readying a breakneck expansion that will take it to all major cities in its 22-state service area and 8 million households by year-end. "We're ready to take our foot off the brake and step on the accelerator," John Stankey, AT&T's group president for operations, said Tuesday. "By the end of the year, we will be up and running in every significantly sized market where we operate."

Nice marketing snowjob job, AT&T! Instead, AT&T will reach less than half the original target of 8 million. USA Today stated today, "AT&T unveiled its latest 2007 target in an unusually quiet manner: It was offered up to Wall Street analysts on an earnings call on Jan. 25. The 8 million figure later showed up in a few investor notes, where it did not attract much attention." Fletcher Cook, an AT&T spokesman says Microsoft's IPTV software isn't to blame: "We're building a brand new service from scratch, and we want to make sure we do it right the first time." Blaming Microsoft is almost as fashionable as blaming President Bush for everything & anything - from global warming to knowing about 9/11 beforehand. (See: Wiki - Bush Derangement Syndrome. So, I'm glad to hear AT&T isn't blaming Microsoft for failing to meet their goals.

Update (I had some other thoughts and feedback from users)
One person emailed me and wrote:

Read with great interest your comments about the possible doom of U-verse. Taking those concerns into account, would you recommend it to a consumer like me who is considering switching from Comcast to U-verse if and when it becomes available on the west side of Indianapolis? The cost and channel availability seem to have cable beat by a mile, but your technological concerns may trump other advantages.

I'd appreciate your assessment on whether consumers should proceed to "sign up" for this new service.

I responded:

Put to you this way. If I could get U-verse in my area, I'd do it. Yes, I knocked AT&T for not meeting their target goals, as did many media outlets. While I think AT&T & Microsoft were perhaps 1-2 years too early with their proprietary technology, it is still a good solution.I'm just not a fan of proprietary solutions. AT&T and Microsoft have had a bumpy road, but I think AT&T & Microsoft have worked out most of the kinks.

Also, I am the least fan of cable. They are overpriced on everything. When I looked into Cablevision's Optimum Voice I believe it was like $39/month. Their broadband was like $45/month. And to get the channels I wanted, it was like $55/month for a grand total of around $139 for the "Triple Play" package. On top of that, the number of HDTV (high-definition) channels was only like 4 and of course, that was an additional $15/month.

I personally switched to DirecTV satellite, which is better than cable, but isn't a perfect solution either - since I then had to also sign up for AT&T DSL + AT&T Unlimited Voice. So I have two separate providers - a Single Play (DirecTV) and a Double Play (AT&T), which no doubt isn't the most cost effective. I just can't get U-verse or even the competing Verizon FiOS (fiber) solution in my area. I'd take either one. Both AT&T and Verizon are building out their networks as fast as they can - but not fast enough for my tastes.

So if you can get Triple play - voice, video, data using AT&T U-verse, with more HDTV channels and super-fast Internet, I say go for it!

AT&T U-verse is in Stamford, CT, which is where my boss, Rich Tehrani lives. I told him they're offering U-verse in his area. Of course, if he gets this cool Triple Play package before I do, I'll be quite jealous and will be forced to bitch & whine how come AT&T isn't offering U-verse in my neighborhood area. Maybe I'll check to see if their competitor, Verizon FiOS (fiber to the home - FTTH) has availability in my neighborhood.