The race to be the first to deploy ultra-high speed fiber-backed broadband in as many markets as possible is on. In a bid to beat Google to the punch, AT&T today announced a proposal to expand its AT&T Gigapower with U-Verse service to 21 new cities. It has already begun talking to municipalities in these new markets. Much like Google Fiber, AT&T’s U-Verse Gigapower network offers customers internet speeds of 1 gigabit per second.
AT&T Gigapower was first launched in Austin, Texas back in December last year. Earlier this month it announced a plan to expand the service to six cities in North Carolina. AT&T certainly wants to match Google’s pace when it comes to deployment. Google Fiber was launched in Kansas City last year and was later expanded to Provo, Utah and Austin, Texas. Google announced earlier this year in February its proposal to expand Fiber into 34 new cities.
Bear in mind though that the proposed cities aren’t confirmed until local officials give the approval. Both Google and AT&T have to jump through the same hoops in order to gain approval. Only then they can begin building the networks. AT&T expects that following approval in these new cities, it may be able to start building the network by the end of 2014.
Current rates of AT&T Gigapower in Austin offer 1Gbps download speeds for just $70 per month, it balloons to $120 per month if customers opt for cable TV as well. AT&T charges $150 per month for the holy trinity, which consists of internet, cable TV and unlimited voice service.
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