AT&T adds Raleigh, N.C., to its 1 Gbps FTTP deployment target list

AT&T (NYSE: T) has reached an agreement with the city of Raleigh, N.C., to be the next market where it will provide its 1 Gbps U-verse with GigaPower fiber to the premises (FTTP) service.

The plan outlines potential fiber deployments to deliver ultra-fast broadband to parts of Raleigh. Earlier this month AT&T also garnered similar agreements to install its service in fellow North Carolina cities Winston-Salem and Durham.

Besides building out the FTTP-based network, the telco is looking to expand its U-verse footprint to more areas of North Carolina. Today, U-verse is available in Raleigh, Cary, Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Charlotte, Asheville and surrounding areas.

This agreement follows advanced discussions AT&T had with the North Carolina Next Generation Network (NCNGN), a regional initiative focused on stimulating the deployment of next generation networks to North Carolina.

AT&T began discussions with the NCNGN about bringing its U-verse GigaPower offering to six communities, including Carrboro, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh and Winston-Salem, in April.

Outside of North Carolina, the telco began offering its U-verse with GigaPower with initial speeds of up to 300 Mbps in Austin, Texas, and surrounding communities in December 2013. Based on the initial service uptake, the telco later announced plans in January to double the households that would get the higher speed service. In addition to Austin, the service provider plans to extend service to Dallas this summer.

Complementing its efforts in North Carolina and Texas, AT&T announced in April it would consider expanding its fiber network to up to 100 of what it calls candidate cities and municipalities nationwide, including 21 new major metropolitan areas.

Further FTTP expansion will be driven by its ability to get permitting approval from local communities and getting access to necessary rights of way to lay fiber and install related network electronics.

For more:
- see the release

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