AT&T's Video-Streaming Service Recovers From Outage
January 13 2017 - 04:12PM
Dow Jones News
By Thomas Gryta
AT&T Inc. said Friday it resolved an hourslong outage with
its DirecTV Now video-streaming service, the latest hiccup since
its launch late last year.
Service appeared to have been restored around 1 p.m. EST.
"Earlier this morning, some DirecTV Now customers could not
stream some of their live channels," an AT&T spokesman said.
"We thank our customers for their patience."
The Dallas telecommunications giant declined to say when the
disruptions began. Earlier Friday, the company's customer-service
representatives told users via Twitter it was aware some customers
were "unable to access the live steam and we are working to get
this corrected as soon as possible."
AT&T launched DirecTV Now in December, hoping it attracts
young people, cord-cutters and other consumers who don't sign up
for its traditional pay-TV packages. AT&T, already the biggest
U.S. pay-TV provider, pitches the streaming service as a
customer-friendly option, as regulators consider its $85 billion
proposal to buy Time Warner Inc., owner of HBO, CNN and other
channels.
AT&T has said initial enrollment among its customers has
been strong, though it hasn't specified the number of sign-ups. It
offers DirecTV Now plans ranging from $35 a month for about 60
channels, to $70 a month for more than 120 channels.
But some subscribers have complained about system crashes,
unresponsive features and other technical glitches. The company has
acknowledged those issues, largely attributing them to bugs that
are common in new products and services, and it has said it is
working on fixes.
Dennis Hendrickson, a 42-year-old independent insurance agent in
Sarasota, Fla., said he wasn't able to watch the Tennis Channel
early Friday morning. He flipped to other channels to find they
were out too.
"Nothing came up," he said, expressing frustration with ongoing
problems with the service and his experiences with customer
service. "This is really annoying."
AT&T on Friday declined to say what caused the outage, but
customer-service representatives told subscribers the company was
updating the DirecTV Now app, which was "causing some service
issues."
William Emerson, a 39-year-old Asheville, N.C., resident who
works out of his home, woke up at 5:30 a.m. EST and tried to watch
MSNBC, only to find his DirecTV Now service wasn't working.
He has been frustrated with the service and its problems but
described himself as a "beta tester" and longtime cord-cutter who
was willing to have some patience.
"I'll use it for a while," he said. "I'll give them a
chance."
Write to Thomas Gryta at thomas.gryta@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 13, 2017 15:57 ET (20:57 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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