Monday, August 04, 2014
AT&T launches high-speed GigaPower Internet in new locations
Donna Donnowitz
AT&T has confirmed that its U-verse with GigaPower broadband service will be available in new metro areas across the country. GigaPower utilizes a 100 percent fiber-optic network to provide 1 Gbps speeds for HD streaming, DVR storage and Internet browsing, according to the AT&T homepage. Currently the service is only running in Austin, Texas, but AT&T is exploring options for making GigaPower available in over a dozen metro areas.
Latest GigaPower locations
Confirmed locations for GigaPower include Charlotte, San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth and Nashville, reports the Charlotte Observer. AT&T would like to eventually expand the service to 25 major cities in the United States. Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and Houston are among larger cities that are likely to receive GigaPower next.
AT&T was given permission to install GigaPower in locations like Charlotte and Nashville after extensive talks with city administrators and business leaders. Both sets of officials were enthusiastic about the opportunity to bring faster Internet speeds into the community. AT&T's extensive networks have already proved to be a boon for local industries, and Charlotte Mayor Dan Clodfelter told the Charlotte Observer that the GigaPower network, "will move us to the next level in building a vibrant, world-class and globally-connected city."
GigaPower is likely to appeal to consumers as well. The AT&T homepage notes that the fiber-optic GigaPower network will allow users to download 25 songs in a second and download high-definition movies in under a minute.
Competition favors consumers
AT&T's decision to expand GigaPower into new cities comes at the heels of Google's recent announcement concerning Google Fiber. Nashville Public Radio notes that these announcements reflect an inevitable market battle between AT&T and Google Fiber for control of the next generation fiber-optics market. Google has already announced its desire to expand Google Fiber networks to Nashville, Charlotte, San Antonio and other metro areas that overlap with AT&T's expansion plans.
Consumers interviewed by Nashville Public Radio have reacted positively to the impending battle between network providers. The competition will help to keep rates for high-speed Internet from spiraling out of control. The network expansions performed by Google and AT&T will also benefit the community by updating the area's Ethernet infrastructure. The companies are likely to replace copper-based Ethernet tech and fiber media converters to keep their promise of installing a 100 percent fiber-optic network.
Perle has an extensive range of Managed and Unmanaged Fiber Media Converters to extended copper-based Ethernet equipment over a fiber-optic link, multimode to multimode and multimode to single mode fiber up to 160 km.