AT&T has plans to expand its Internet TV service offering, the company said Friday. By year's end, AT&T will have the service available in 15 to 20 markets. Currently, a pilot service is only offered in the San Antonio market.

Senior vice president Lee Ann Champion told the Wall Street Journal on Friday that service would be launched next in Austin. That would be followed by additional launches in the third quarter in all of AT&T's regions, including the West, Southwest, Midwest and East Coast.

The telecommunications company is launching the initiative in order to compete with cable companies and fellow competitor Verizon. AT&T hopes to have service available to 19 million homes across 41 markets by 2008.

The method that AT&T is using to deliver television signals differs from Verizon's approach. Whereas Verizon is user fiber-optic lines to deliver the signal, AT&T is using standard Internet technology. However some question the feasibility of such a plan, as video signals would have to fight for limited bandwidth that includes phone and high-speed Internet signals.

So far, the company has declined to detail the specifics of its plans, only saying its San Antonio network has "hundreds" of subscribers.