In response to Google’s announcement that it is bringing Google Fiber to Austin, AT&T said that is also prepared to build a 1 gigabit-per-second fiber optic network in the Texas capitol. The fiber optic network would be part of AT&T’s Project Velocity IP, announced late last year.
AT&T said that it expects the same consideration that Google received from Austin’s local government. Specifically, the carrier identified rights of way, permitting, and state licenses, saying it would expect the city to offer AT&T whatever it offered Google, as well as any investment incentives that Google received.
“Most encouraging is the recognition by government officials that policies which eliminate unnecessary regulation, lower costs and speed infrastructure deployment, can be a meaningful catalyst to additional investment in advanced networks which drives employment and economic growth,” said AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson.
The company said the addition of a high speed fiber optic network in Austin will not materially change its 2013 capital expenditures.
A superfast network would presumably be part of AT&T’s U-verse service. The company has said that it expects U-verse to be one of its fastest-growing businesses, along with wireless data and strategic business services. U-verse offers bundled cable, Internet and wireline phone service over fiber in selected areas. So far, AT&T has not announced a plan to combine U-verse with wireless service.
For Google, a high speed Internet offering from AT&T may put pressure on the prices it can charge in Austin, but in the long run competition can only be good for the search engine giant. It makes its money from advertising, and the faster people can surf the more ads they can see.
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