Why DirecTV's Service Is So Poor Despite Just on Its Second Week of Operations

By Raizel Albano
A reassuring message on DirecTV's official Twitter page.
A reassuring message on DirecTV's official Twitter page.  Twitter.

With AT&T's release of DirecTV, a streaming service that is promised not to "count against its customers' data caps," subscribers are furious with DirecTV's poor service despite just being on its second week on air. The new service was officially launched on November 30.

A new Twitter handle (@DirecTVNowHelp) is now being used to directly address concerns. Despite DirecTV's technical mishaps, its customer service team shows to be very responsive with every concern being responded to in a 24-hour timeframe. As of DirecTV's latest update, it says, "We've resolved the streaming issue affecting some DIRECTV NOW customers, so everyone can get back to streaming rules free (sic) TV."

Subscribers have expressed their frustrations online, with one saying, "The stream just randomly stops others. Also takes a long time to buffer." Another says, "I'm still unable to watch, this is Day 4. I want my subscription money back for this month!" And one also shares, "WWE is not streaming. You know what's scary? Paying anymore for this."

So despite AT&T's promise of great, budget-friendly and consumer-oriented service, why is DirecTV failing to deliver despite just on its second week of operations?

First, it may be because of AT&T's zero rating scheme which lets users override data caps when using the DirecTV service. Due to this big incentive, the infrastructure setup may not have been enough for the mass of subscribers that has exceeded AT&T's expectations. AT&T occupies a big share in the US wireless industry market at 32.1%, and the mobile cellular service industry at 44.4%. It also has 16.78 million broadband connections in the country.

Next, it can also be due to the swiftness of service launch, which is attributed to AT&T's goal to be the first to offer a zero rating scheme for online streaming. It is said that this lack of preparation is evident even before the launch, when the company failed to publish specific channels on the DirecTV service until two days before the launch.

A writer of The Verge says, "And while it may be understandable that the company may have some kinks to work out with its technical backend, it certainly doesn't send the right message to consumers."

To address faster response to problems encountered with DirecTV, AT&T has released a list of error code messages and a step-by-step guide on how to troubleshoot them. On the support list, there is also an option to send direct inquiries on the forum.

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