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AT&T adding UVerse service in Greene County

By Jeremy P. Kelley, Staff Writer Updated 1:44 PM Friday, July 10, 2009

Many Bellbrook and Sugarcreek Twp. residents soon will have another option for cable television, Internet and phone service, as AT&T is bringing its UVerse service to the area.

City and township leaders said they already have met with AT&T officials. AT&T Ohio spokeswoman Caryn Candisky said the service would be available sometime this year, but added that AT&T doesn’t reveal exact start dates for competitive reasons.

Bellbrook City Manager Mark Schlagheck said AT&T plans to put eight or nine of its Video Ready Access Devices in the city. VRADs are the 4-foot-high utility boxes that relay signals to nearby homes.

Schlagheck said AT&T will install the VRADs on existing utility easements, many near phone boxes, and will apply for a zoning permit for each one. The first permit request has been filed, with the box slated to go on Marcia Drive near Eckworth in the city’s south plat.

While some of AT&T’s early VRAD installations in other communities came with little notice and angered property owners, Schlagheck said the company now is working with people to make sure the boxes are placed well and are screened with vegetation.

Sugarcreek Twp. Administrator Barry Tiffany said he was not aware of a timeline with AT&T yet, but he said he didn’t think the company would have to file for any permits to begin work in the township.

“When they move, they move quickly,” Tiffany said. “It could be next week or it could be much later. When word gets out that they’re coming, Time Warner will blitz the area with mailers. Once there’s competition, they try to lock new customers in for two years.”

Schlagheck and Bellbrook Mayor Mary Graves said they were happy that residents would have another option. Schlagheck also said the city is working with AT&T to make sure Bellbrook’s Channel 5 community programming would be available to UVerse customers.

“This will provide cable service through a different medium,” said Schlagheck, who says he has AT&T UVerse in his home. “It is in a number of communities around us. It is a very good service, very cost-friendly, and it will be another option for our residents.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2278 or jkelley@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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I'm really tempted to go with this, but I wish Verizon would bring their fiber and Embarq show up with there DSL. I tried to get ATT DSL back in January. I got the equipment and had it all ready to go, but no service on the day they said. I had to call them to find out they rescheduled on me. Then they told me they needed something. After a month I went with TW's slowrunner. I had the cheapest Embarq dsl month to month and saved 30 bucks, and had faster speeds up and down than TW.

YABrian
12:55 PM, 7/9/2009

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We've had Uverse for almost a year now and absolutely love it. We've only had one problem and had great customer service getting it resolved. Our service guy even missed a date so that he can stay and fix the problem! :) As for price, we pay about $90 a month for the 200 channel package and our DSL. I love the fact that we were able to get rid of our landline with it! Wouldn't change a thing!

Love it!
12:25 PM, 7/9/2009

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I can't wait until it reaches up to Fairborn. Since I live in an apt, I can't get satalite, so I'm stuck with TWC limited HD service and internet. My friends parents have Uverse in Beavercreek so it shouldn't be that far away from Fairborn! I HOPE!

Ryan
11:51 AM, 7/9/2009

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My husband and I recently switched from TW to AT&T due to TW charging us more even though we were told our rate was locked in. When my husband called TW, the person helping him hung up on him and never called back, even though she had the account info in front of her! That was their chance to keep a long-time customer.

Luckily, AT&T is much better, cheaper, and their internet is a lot faster.

LadyBlue
11:11 AM, 7/9/2009

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I was a loyal att.net customer for many years. However they never made any effort to offer anything other than dead-slow dial-up internet in my area of Sugarcreek Twp. so we finally went with RoadRunner.
My guess is that even when this upgrade is done, our neighborhood will still have no other option for fast internet. Where is the competition?

tbill
10:50 AM, 7/9/2009

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