Last week we noted that user chatter both here and on AT&T's official forums indicates that AT&T is cooking up an 18Mbps U-Verse tier, for customers who don't want to subscribe to U-Verse TV. Supposedly dubbed "Max 18," rumors say the tier is scheduled to appear sometime in November for somewhere around $65. I've been pressing AT&T for more information on the new tier this week, and have so far only been told "we have nothing to announce at this time." Still, all signs point to the new tier being real, and dropping soon.

While asking around the industry, broadband sector analyst Dave Burstein reminds me that AT&T's Ralph De La Vega has hinted at such a move in the past. "If people don’t want our TV offering, that’s fine and we’ll just sell them the bandwidth," De La Vega was recently quoted as saying. A quick Google search for any mention of a "Max 18" tier finds a deleted but cached AT&T website reference (see screenshot).

With Comcast's new speeds now getting lots of press, expect an announcement sooner rather than later. While simply not offering TV to a customer who wants faster speeds is one solution, AT&T was also scheduled to offer line bonded DSL by the end of this year. While AT&T recently told us this was still on target for the end of the year, bonded VDSL chipsets aren't fully cooked yet -- making next Spring or Summer a more likely launch date for anything above 18Mbps.