AT&T announced this morning that its GigaPower service was now live in areas of Carrboro, Cary, Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Winston-Salem, N.C.
Earlier this year, AT&T teamed up with the North Carolina Next Generation Network (NCNGN) to rollout its fiber-based 1-Gig service to six cities in North Carolina. The NCNGN is comprised of four universities and local business leaders who have banded together to develop high-speed broadband networks in the state.
“The Research Triangle has a long history as a technology innovator,” said Tracy Futhey, vice president for Information Technology at Duke University and chair of the North Carolina Next Generation Network Steering Committee. “Maintaining that pace-setting role requires a continual evolution of our tech ecosystem. We’re thrilled AT&T is investing in a gigabit network in our region. These kinds of networks will help to strengthen our region’s competitive edge, ensuring that we continue to lead in creating an environment that inspires technological innovation.”
Raleigh is one of the cities where Time Warner Cable will deploy its 300 Mbps service next year as part of its “TWC Maxx” all-digital upgrades. Google Fiber has also said it was looking at deploying its service in North Carolina.
“We’re proud to launch in these cities as the first locations where we will offer ultra-high speeds to local consumers and employers in North Carolina,” said Venessa Harrison, president AT&T North Carolina. “U-verse with AT&T GigaPower will help encourage economic development in the area by facilitating a new wave of innovation through enhanced opportunities for education, health, research and small business growth.”
AT&T said it planned to offer AT&T GigaPower in additional areas and expand the availability of the network in Charlotte, Durham and Greensboro. As part of the agreement with the NCNGN, Durham residents and small businesses will receive AT&T U-verse Internet connectivity and U-verse TV services for the first time. AT&T said it would announce the availability of for those markets at a later date.
With today’s announcement, GigaPower is now available to residential customers and small businesses in parts of the Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Raleigh-Durham and Winston-Salem markets. AT&T previously announced in April that GigaPower would be available in parts of 12 markets including: Atlanta; Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C.; Chicago; Cupertino, Calif.; Houston; Jacksonville, Fla.; Miami; Nashville, Tenn.; Overland Park, Kan.; St. Louis and San Antonio.
Last month AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said that AT&T might suspend some fiber optics network construction if the FCC reclassified broadband as a Title II service, but said the company would continue with its existing commitments.
AT&T has said that upon its proposed acquisition of DirecTV, it would expand the AT&T GigaPower network to an additional two million customer locations. Those two million locations were above and beyond what the company announced in April.
