Comcast And AT&T Catfight In Chicago

It seems an interesting PR battle is being waged here on my turf between Comcast and AT&T. Comcast has claimed that AT&T's U-Verse (AT&T's fiber network for television, Internet, and home phone) has been interfering with Comcast service due to poor installation practices by AT&T. AT&T, predictably, has denied the claim, but the question remains and also a pending lawsuit.

The problem occurs, according to Comcast, when subscribers use both services, AT&T U-Verse Internet and Comcast Cable for example. Although the companies use two separate lines to get to the house, they both have to cross through the coaxial line once they get into the house. This is where Comcast is claiming the problem happens, saying that AT&T's U-Verse has been incorrectly sending data upstream, causing problems with that particular subscriber's service, and because it's cable, all subscribers on that particular node. There have been a reported 40 cases of the problem in the Chicago-land area (although not Chicago proper because U-Verse hasn't gotten into the city yet... still waiting...), and also reports of similar problems in Texas. The Texas reports concern Time-Warner Cable, but these are also unconfirmed at the moment.

Knowing a little about the roll-out of U-Verse here in Chicago, I can say that there have been problems with installation, but I can't say whether those problems would effect this situation. Is this a case of Comcast whining? Is this a poorly designed service, or worse, a maliciously designed service from AT&T? Or is cable just teh sux? If this lawsuit plays out, we're sure to see both sides of the story, but that could take some time and most likely a larger scale PR battle before hand. Grab some snacks folks, this could get fun!

Comcast: AT&T's U-Verse is messing with our network [Ars Technica]