AT&T offered a preview earlier this week of their vision for convergence. They demoed technology that’s not publicly available yet, including linking the iPhone to U-verse services. For example, the iPhone can turn into a remote control for U-verse video services. Other applications will include the ability to download programming from a U-Verse DVR to an iPhone for mobile playback. AT&T CTO John Donovan tells Dow Jones, "You're going to see dramatic changes in the how we look and feel to our customers."

AT&T has taken its lumps lately, with slowing broadband growth and questioning of its FTTN strategy with U-Verse. Its trump card is wireless, and the iPhone is leading the way. AT&T knows it’s going to have to start integrating wireless into its wireline, broadband, and video strategies to take some of the shine off of its cable competitors. Wireless is their answer. The sooner they can integrate wireless and iPhone applications into their broadband and U-verse experience, the better off they’ll be. They need some of that “cool” factor in place for their entire product portfolio to hedge against any possible success from cable’s forthcoming attempt to integrate WiMAX into their triple play portfolio.

Cinergy MetroNet, an Indiana based FTTH triple play provider, has launched TV Caller ID and other converged applications, including call logs and a networked address book. Cinergy includes the service, marketed as Caller ID on TV, as a free value add for its triple play customers and for $2.95/month for non-triple play customers. Cinergy MetroNet uses the Integra5 Converged Services platform.

Comcast is joining the caller ID on the television party. While a little late to the party, they plan on moving aggressively into the converged communications arena with other services as well. Caller ID TV will be available in August, followed by caller ID on the PC and visual voicemail for the TV early next year. Other cable MSOs including Cablevision have been offering Caller ID TV for some time. Telecom competitors have also been offering it for some time. Comcast also announced the launch of a “fourth” screen product, similar to Embarq’s eGo phone.

Comcast’s move into converged communications raises the bar for everyone. They are now the fourth largest phone company in the U.S., and competitors who don’t have these services in Comcast’s markets will be at a disadvantage. Caller ID TV is an extremely sticky service that subscribers come to love very quickly. Its value was initially underestimated, but it’s now one of the most successful differentiating applications available. Any service provider looking to compete in the marketplace today is basically compelled to offer it.

Panhandle Telephone (PTCI) of Guymon, Oklahoma has expanded their converged caller ID application, which allows caller ID integration with the television and the PC. The expanded applications include picture caller ID, custom tones, nicknames, fonts and colors for TV and PC Caller ID notifications. The services are provided through Integra5. PTCI offers TV Caller ID, marketed as “OnScreen Caller ID,” to customers who subscribe to its digital TV and telephone caller ID services. PC Caller ID is available to high-speed Internet subscribers for a separate fee of $3 per month.

The NFL Network and Verizon are providing glimpses into the future of sports on television through their NFL Network Game Extra package this year. The package offers eight Thursday/Saturday prime time games, which are viewed online through a broadband connection. Offered to Verizon broadband subscribers (FiOS or DSL) who also subscribe to a Verizon video package (either through a FiOS or Verizon DirecTV bundle), the package provides a variety of exclusive features that are not available for traditional television viewing – at least not yet.

The features include the ability to select from up to four camera angles; live online chats with other NFL Network Game Extra viewers during the live games; game statistics, highlights and drive-chart simulations during the games; and on-demand video highlights of the games. Verizon does not intend to charge for the package. While this experiment is limited to online viewing for now, it certainly represents the future of sports on television. These are the types of features that IPTV promises to deliver – true differentiation over the traditional viewing experience. To be fair, there’s nothing here that cable can’t emulate, and DirecTV has already demonstrated that they know how to leverage interactive sports packages for competitive differentiation through their venerable NFL Sunday Ticket package. It’s just a matter of time before these features make their way to the “big screen.” The NFL Network Game Extra is also a prime example of the growing convergence of broadband content with traditional television viewing, which will fuel further innovation in the total entertainment experience. Carriers who embrace this convergence and learn how to leverage it, will certainly gain competitive advantage.

In what is sure to be one of many announcements to come, AT&T announced a realignment of its business product portfolio to include wireless packages and a new wireless VPN service. Previously, business customers had to interface with two separate sales organizations to purchase these services. With this new alignment, a single sales organization will integrate these wireless offerings into their existing business service portfolio. With these changes, AT&T is attempting to leverage all of the capabilities of this new behemoth company, including wireline-wireless convergence.

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