The phone service calls it AT&T U-verse Screen Pack, and it will cost $5 a month. Like with competitors such as Netflix — and, notably, Verizon’s new Redbox Instant — AT&T will offer unlimited, instant playback on multiple devices including tablets and smartphones. No formal word on what content will be available; the company says that it has 1,500 movie titles in the library and will include “more titles added on an ongoing basis.” Also no word on what specific operating systems and platforms will handle the streaming video. Jeff Weber, President of Content and Advertising Sales, says that AT&T “customers have told us they want subscription on demand services and we’re delivering. Screen Pack, along with our On Demand library, gives customers a flexible and more compelling movie experience, where and when they want it.” AT&T says it will offer a free preview of the service until January 13 on U-verse, Uverse.com and on the U-verse app.

I hope it’s as reliable as their cell phone service!
I don’t have UVerse, so not sure I understand this.
Does UVerse NOT have a VOD option, now? Are you not able to “rent” a movie for a day (like I can on DirecTV)?
so if you download their movies thru their service, $5 a month. If you download movies thru another service on same mobile devices (iphone), you get capped and throttled and charged fees up the wazoo.
Don’t confuse SVOD with transactional VOD. The former is like Netflix while the latter is like iTunes. Today’s announcement is about SVOD, which seems like a good deal until you see the content offering. Largely catalog titles and B fare. You won’t ever get retail access to content for $5 a month. The economics don’t exist.
AT&T is the worst. Dealing with their customer service people makes me want to reach out and punch somebody and their service is notorious for being shotty and expensive. I instinctually avoid anything they are involved with.
Same here. Their brand is shit.
As someone who’s pretty much had all cable providers I’d have to say AT&T is not the worst. That would be Charter, then TWC. I kid you not Charter is the devil. It took them one month to properly install our cable/internet as it kept breaking down due to their cheap wiring in the neighborhood. Mind you it would have taken longer had I not become a huge pain in the ass to them. I had to resort to threats and yelling. Not my proudest moments, but when absolutely nothing is functioning you kind of lose it at the people responsible.
Finally even though we had a local office center for Charter I could never get anyone (read: manager) to speak to me about all the f*ck ups. The miscommunications were the worst I’ve ever had to deal with. The techs worked their asses off and after spending many hours with a couple I learned that hard to reach manager is usually inside his office with his feet up while everyone is working 14 hour days unable to make it home for dinner. This company treats it’s customers like unwanted guests and its employees abominably. Please note this is a condensed version of my hell dealing with Charter. So…
I will say my easiest and best experience was with Fios. Everything worked perfectly, they made sure of it. The customer service was beyond helpful. I loved the generous channel line-up and DVR box. It’ll be nice if I move and can get it again.
AT&T customer service does, in general, suck, but AT&T U-verse does not. My parents have it and it’s pretty awesome. It’s not available in my city, sadly. Mark–they do have VOD, but not a VOD unlimited streaming movies option (like Netflix or Amazon Prime). That’s what this will be, if I’m reading correctly.
Will the $5 a month include the worst Customer Service money can buy or has AT&T decided to change that?
Yeah, I’m a U-verse subscriber and a competitive option to replace Netflix would be something I’d consider…but I looked at the catalog and it’s disappointing to say the least. They have 7 entries on their “top titles” section with fare like Charlie’s Angels, Cruel Intentions and the Care Bears Movie. WOW! Sign me up!
Remember that when Netflix started they had a limited offering too. So did Amazon. They should keep improving the offer–and if they do that it could be a good value service.