AT&T Inc. said in a regulatory filing Tuesday that it plans to provide TV service to compete with cable in 56 cities across Tennessee within the next two years — including metropolitan areas such as Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga, as well as in suburban and some rural areas.
The company said it would include service in unincorporated areas of 29 counties, though a spokesman for AT&T would not be specific about when service would be provided.
The San Antonio-based company also announced plans to invest $400 million in Tennessee to upgrade its fiber network and provide cable TV as well as broadband Internet service.
AT&T filed its application for cable service Tuesday, the first day possible under a new law AT&T battled for in the legislature over the past two years. It passed earlier this year and was signed into law by Gov. Phil Bredesen in May.
Local governments and the cable industry had fought the bill before working out the details of a compromise this year under the urging of House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh.
"We're going to work to get this to as many consumers as we possibly can," said AT&T spokesman Bob Corney. "We are very pleased to be making this step today."
Bredesen said he expects the AT&T plan to help expand broadband access around the state, and he praised the company for the timing of the franchise application.
"They certainly indicated this was important to them and they would move quickly, and I think this is a very good sign," Bredesen told reporters after a ceremonial bill signing.
Although AT&T will not have to serve entire cities or counties under the law, it does have to comply with certain build-out requirements designed to prevent it from discriminating against poor neighborhoods.
Cable providers will have 3½ years to make service available to at least 30 percent of the households in their franchise area — and 25 percent of those have to be low-income.
Cable industry responds"It will take time to enhance our network to offer these exceptional services, but we will move as quickly as possible to compete for Tennessee customers," Gregg Morton, president of AT&T Tennessee, said in a release.
Stacey Briggs, executive director of the Tennessee Cable Telecommunications Association, said in response to AT&T's application for state franchise, that the cable industry has already invested well over $1 billion in communities across the state.
"(The cable industry) continues to invest over $200 million annually to bring the most advanced technologies to Tennesseans," Briggs said.
The Tennessee Regulatory Authority has 45 days to approve the application and no public hearings will be scheduled.
AT&T serves more than 1 million customers in Tennessee, according to the application. It will not provide cable TV service to areas that don't have AT&T telephone service, according to the filing.
The law requires AT&T or any other new providers to pay a 5 percent franchise fee on gross receipts to the local municipality or county where they operate.
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