Microsoft blamed for AT&T TV hiccups

SOFTWARE FIRM Microsoft is getting it in the eye from AT&T over slow rollout of the latter's IPTV service.

The Wall Street Journal this morning quotes Ma Bell CFO Rick Lindner as saying the company had decided not to heavily market the U-verse service because of limited deployment capacity caused by problems with Microsoft IPTV Edition software that controls programme guides, video recording and on-demand services.

Last year, the Journal reported that Verizon had taken over some development work from Microsoft after becoming “frustrated” with its work.

Microsoft has a spotty history on the gogglebox. In 1997 it spent about $425m to purchase WebTV Networks but failed to make the much-hyped phenomenon a success. Its latest effort centre on IPTV services via the Xbox 360 and Media Centre PCs. µ

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