Comparison of Comcast Cable With U-verse

Comcast Cable is the largest provider of cable television in the United States, with more than 24 million subscribers out of a potential 50 million homes across 39 states and the District of Columbia. Since adding telephone and Internet, it began rebranding its services as XFINITY in 2010, reaching 12.4 million Internet and 3.5 million telephone customers as of 2011. The individual services can be bundled together to create a price savings and take advantage of shared features, such as the XFINITY TV Internet destination, offering on-demand content from a variety of networks.

AT&T;'s U-verse is available on a much more limited basis than Comcast, with just over 3 million TV subscribers out of a potential 28 million potential homes in its coverage areas, which are mainly in larger cities in parts of 22 states. U-verse TV differs from standard cable TV by using fiber-optic technology to transmit data and delivering content via Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), with the high-speed Internet connection plugged into the set-top receiver box/DVR as well.

Though both Comcast/XFINITY and U-verse offer the features customers expect from a service provider -- programming packages ranging from basic to extensive, high-definition (HD) channels, on-screen guides, DVR, premium channels, on-demand and pay-per-view content -- Comcast offers more on-demand choices overall, especially when adding in the XFINITY TV website and mobile device app that lets you watch programs from anywhere with a wi-fi signal. However, U-verse offers a feature called Multiview, in which you can select up to four channels to view on-screen at once, and a customized U-bar for viewing local news, weather, traffic, sports and other information as you choose.

While Comcast boasts a higher Internet speed than U-verse, it has also been investigated for manipulating data traffic, applying bandwidth caps in certain markets and "throttling" peer-to-peer BitTorrent data transmissions and websites. Comcast may have an edge in TV picture quality, as the fiber-optics used with U-verse can result in the signal degrading over long distances if the subscriber is too far from the transfer hub. And, though both companies may offer similar pricing plans, U-verse has no contract term, while Comcast requires a minimum 12 month commitment to receive its best prices.