What Does a Million Buy You?

8:30 AM -- If you’re talking dollars, it buys you a hell of a lot more than it did two years ago. Think how many shares of GM you could get. Even better, think about that dream house that was selling for three times that a year or so ago, but is now a virtual foreclosure “bargain.”

For AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), a million buys some breathing room. AT&T Operations president John Stankey announced the firm will achieve its long-touted goal of a million U-verse TV subscribers by the end of 2008. Heck, they’re even going to make it with a couple weeks to spare.

Good for them. Imagine if they came up short. What would the spin be on Wall Street? The “deteriorating economy” excuse is a given, but in light of respectable video growth numbers from cable and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ)’s FiOS, AT&T was surely feeling some pressure to deliver.

For the record, it’s good to see a U.S. carrier pass the million IPTV subscriber benchmark. The U.S. is slowly but surely building a respectable IPTV base and can join Europe and Asia as a legitimate telcoTV focal point.

— Bernardin Arnason, Managing Partner, Pivot Group , and Chairman, TelcoTV 2008