DirecTV Now Users Already Experiencing Some Issues

AT&T officially launched its new DirecTV Now service yesterday, debuting a service that brings over a hundred channels for a starting price of $35. This latest offering from the second biggest wireless carrier in the United States streams over the world wide web, can function on a wide range of devices, including smartphones and tablet devices, and does not affect the mobile data allowances of AT&T subscribers. The mobile operator made a wise decision to launch DirecTV Now along with offers of free handsets and a free seven day trial, which resulted to thousands of new sign ups. 

But as reported by Cnet, there seems to be quite a number of complaints from the early adopters. Another report from TVPredictions even points out that the launch has been a nightmare so far. So what exactly are the initial sign ups complaining about? Apparently, some channels fail to load when users click on them, while others have reported that the screen of their mobile device would sometimes go blank while they are watching a program. As spotted by The Consumerist, live NBC channels are not made available on non-mobile devices, despite the fact that NBC’s on demand programs are accessible.

A few others stated that they encountered an error message that says their device is not compatible, even though their handset is one of those listed as compatible. One specific error message is labeled Error 60, and it says that the user has surpassed the maximum number of simultaneous streams (i.e. two streams for each account). 

To AT&T’s credit, it was quick enough to issue an official statement. The wireless carrier has since claimed that its team of engineers are already busy resolving the issues. As for the NBC technical issue, DirecTV claims that it should be fixed in the next few weeks. 

Launches typically do not happen without any initial issues, but DirecTV Now’s do seem to be worrying on the outset. But if AT&T can fix the issues immediately, there should be no cause for worry. Having said all that, DirecTV Now’s response to the launch issues has been pretty impressive. But if it wants the service to really take off, it needs to do better from here on.

For reference, here are the packages being offered by DirecTV Now:

• Live A Little -- More than 60 channels for a price of $35 a month
• Just Right -- More than 80 channels for a price of $50 a month
• Go Big -- More than 100 channels for a price of $60 a month
• Gotta Have It -- More than 120 channels for a price of $70 a month