• WSJ.com, Friday, May 19, 2006 11 AM

By year's end, telecom giant AT&T expects to be offering Web TV service in 15-20 US markets, but the decision to aggressively move into TV leaves skeptics wondering whether the Internet technology AT&T will use can work on a massive scale. By deploying Web-based technology, the company formerly known as SBC is trying to bypass the enormous expense of wiring fiber-optic cables to homes so it can compete with cable operators providing TV, phone and high-speed Internet service. AT&T is spending $4.6 billion to make TV available to 19 million homes in 41 markets by 2008, but analysts say the telecom giant won't reach its goal. Verizon, which has already entered the triple play market, has spent the extra billions upgrading its network with a different technology because it didn't feel a Web-based back-end would be sufficient. Its TV service reaches 50 communities in 7 states.

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