AT&T is completely sold on IPTV, and is singing its praises to anyone who will listen.

“We had a view, a vision of what IPTV could be that went well beyond getting ESPN into your home, although we had to start there and that was a lot of work,” said Jeff Weber, vice president of IP product and strategy for AT&T. “But we also saw DVR [digital video recorder] in a new way and other applications that went far beyond just watching TV. And working with our partners, we built a network that was capable of doing what we imagined. We feel really good about where we are right now.”

Ed Mueller, CEO of Qwest Communications, isn’t convinced. He’s made it clear he doesn’t think IPTV is ready for prime time, and won’t invest his company’s time and money until it is.

Phil Erle, who led Ringgold Telephone in Georgia to pioneer IPTV in 2004, is on Mueller’s side. After four years of trying to make it work, Erle said IPTV still has a lot of growing up to do.

So what’s an independent telco to do? The natural tendency might be to sit back and wait, watching to see what reasonable options develop.

But there is danger in the do-nothing-yet approach as well, especially since cable is making a broadband resurgence. Customers lost today could be lost forever if they cut the cord for a cable VoIP service or discover, as many have, that they can live without a landline phone.

This is a time to be actively exploring all options, and yes, there are options. There are equipment vendors ready to step up to the plate and even an expanding list of vendors offering turnkey IPTV for independents -- SES Americom, Falcon/IP Complete and newcomer SezMi (formerly known as Building B) all come immediately to mind.

Independents need to step up to this challenge, and there’s no time like the present. This is just one of the topics we’ll be discussed at INSIGHTS for Next-Generation ILECs, a One-Day Service Provider Summit at NXTcomm ’08, sponsored by Telephony and The Independent. You can read more information about this unique event or register here. I hope to see you there.

E-mail me at cwilson3@telephonyonline.com.