Bits: AT&T Moves Fast to Move Data, Fast

View in [Browser] | Add [nytdirect@nytimes.com] to your address book. Wednesday, January 4, 2017 [The New York Times] [For the latest updates, go to nytimes.com/bits »] [The New York Times] Wednesday, January 4, 2017 [Workers preparing the lobby of the Las Vegas Convention Center for the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show. John Donovan of AT&T is expected to outline the company’s plan for very-high-speed broadband at the show.] Workers preparing the lobby of the Las Vegas Convention Center for the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show. John Donovan of AT&T is expected to outline the company’s plan for very-high-speed broadband at the show. Steve Marcus/Reuters [Daily Report] AT&T’s plan to deliver very-high-speed broadband goes like this: Work on a bunch of different technologies at once, for different kinds of customers, without waiting for international regulators or industrial bodies to do their work. Oh, and this has to be a cheaper way to do business. “It’s a multidimensional effort, not for the faint of heart,” said John Donovan, the company’s chief strategy officer and head of technology and operations. “We’re thinking of the evolution of all of our platforms, together.” On Wednesday, Mr. Donovan will articulate some of this plan at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Much of what he is talking about is tech for businesses, but the show has become a place where large companies give their tech vision for the year. The big idea, he said, is “a platform that delivers a gig,” or digital connectivity of a gigabit per second. “The customer wants to buy an experience,” he said,“and the experience is a gig.” That is fast enough to download a feature film in a couple of seconds. If it succeeds, it will have an edge on competition like Comcast, which cannot deliver a gig without big and expensive upgrades to its fiber. If it fails in risky efforts like speedy fifth-generation wireless, AT&T will have spent a lot of money to fall short. So-called 5G already has its [doubters], but Mr. Donovan will be announcing a 5G trial in Austin, Tex., with DirectTV, which it purchased in 2015. If successful, he said, “we will roll it out fast.” It will be a couple of months before that is clear, he added. The cynical take on this grand vision is that AT&T is trying to make a virtue of necessity. Over the past few years, it has spent more than $100 billion on assets as diverse as cable and satellite connectivity to homes and businesses. Figuring in its traditional wired and wireless phone business, it owns a lot of stuff. It is also working on experimental approaches, like delivering broadband over power lines. And now it has to make the jumble into coherence. More generously, it is possible to see commonalities among many of these offerings nowadays, because so much of the equipment is made up of computer software, which can be adjusted on the fly, or used to make diverse things act in concert. Even with the software magic, Mr. Donovan said the final product would look different in rural areas than in urban settings, and, because of standards issues, things like home wireless may arrive sooner than fast mobile connections. The big spending on new mobile networks will probably be in areas of heavy usage, he said, like stadiums and urban squares. Harmonizing its network to make a single customer offering is not the only challenge for AT&T: Adding all this new technology has meant [a vast retraining] program for one of the world’s largest employers. That is proceeding well, Mr. Donovan said, though much lies ahead. “Seventy-four percent of our promotions are people who are in place with their pivot index,” a term AT&T uses for moving from the old set of skills to the new software-based system. “We are internally publicizing the benefits of going down this path.” — Quentin Hardy  More on CES 2017 Tech Fix [Ultra HD Panasonic TV screens at a fair in Berlin. Manufacturers will be showing their wares this week in Las Vegas.] [What to Know About CES 2017] By BRIAN X. CHEN A look at the trends that will matter at this week’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas: Ultra HD TV, smart home and drones.  ADVERTISEMENT  More From The Times State of the Art [Tech Giants Seem Invincible. That Worries Lawmakers.] By FARHAD MANJOO Giant tech companies are usually challenged by start-ups. But with no obvious upstart competitors, it may be governments that pose the biggest threat. Transition Briefing [Trump Appears to Side With Assange Over Intelligence Agencies’ Conclusions] By SCOTT SHANE, MATT FLEGENHEIMER AND JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS The president-elect showed sympathy for Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, once reviled by Republicans, suggesting he believes Russia was not the group’s source. Feature [Cyberwar for Sale] By MATTATHIAS SCHWARTZ After a maker of surveillance software was hacked, its leaked documents shed light on a shadowy global industry that has turned email theft into a terrifying — and lucrative — political weapon. [The actress Leslie Jones in September.] [Leslie Jones Says Publisher Spreads Hate by Publishing Milo Yiannopoulos’s Book] By DANIEL VICTOR Mr. Yiannopoulos, who has been banned from Twitter for leading online harassment against Ms. Jones, the comedian and actress, was given a six-figure book deal. [Roz Chast’s cartoon made with Tilt Brush.] [The Making of Virtually Real Art With Google’s Tilt Brush] By FRANK ROSE Tilt Brush, a 3-D tool created by two men and now owned by Google, has invited artists to help hone its system.  ADVERTISEMENT  App Smart [Super Mario Run, a gaming classic that has been brought to iOS with all the delight and fun of the original.] [Mario Isn’t the Only Classic to Leap to Mobile] By KIT EATON Tomb Raider, Pac-Man and Grand Theft Auto are retro, and reinvented as apps, as well. Entrepreneurship [Kellee Khalil at a floral shop in Los Angeles. Ms. Khalil is the founder of the wedding website Lover.ly.] [Start-Ups Hope Couples Say ‘I Do’ to Online Wedding Planning] By DANIELLE BEURTEAUX While the field has been decidedly low-tech, young entrepreneurs are tapping into the multibillion-dollar industry with apps and virtual services. Tech Tip [Adding Colors to Mac Folders] By J. D. BIERSDORFER Apple’s desktop operating system includes software to create new tints for desktop folders, but you can also jazz them up with apps and new icons.  LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here].  Correction The Jan. 3 edition of the Bits newsletter misstated the author of the Daily Report. It was written by Quentin Hardy, not Pui-Wing Tam. FOLLOW Bits [Twitter] [@nytimesbits] ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Bits newsletter. [Unsubscribe] | [Manage Subscriptions] | [Change Your Email] | [Privacy Policy] | [Contact] | [Advertise] Copyright 2016 The New York Times Company | 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018