AT&T extends 1 Gig service to Charlotte, N.C.

After getting necessary local permits, AT&T (NYSE: T) has added Charlotte as the latest city in North Carolina where it plans to deliver its 1 Gbps fiber to the premises (FTTP)-based GigaPower service.

Charlotte local officials ratified an agreement with AT&T to offer its U-verse with GigaPower service over a fiber network already serving the city. In addition to high-speed Internet, the deal also calls for AT&T to offer advanced TV services throughout the service area.

Venessa Harrison, president of AT&T North Carolina, said that a key deciding factor in naming Charlotte as its next deployment target was getting through a streamlined permitting process to get access to necessary rights of way and related city infrastructure. 

"Smart public policy decisions, such as adopting competitively neutral local ordinances and modernizing state regulatory statutes, play a key role in driving investment," Harrison said in a release.

Typical of all of its FTTP announcements, the service provider said that it would reveal what locations will be eligible to get the service and pricing at a "later date."

North Carolina has been one of AT&T's main FTTP deployment targets.

Additional agreements also have been reached in North Carolina to bring AT&T GigaPower to Cary, Carborro, Raleigh-Durham and Winston-Salem thanks to the North Carolina Next Generation Network (NCNGN), which is made up of six cities, four leading universities and local businesses pushing high-speed broadband networks throughout the state.

While FTTP is a main priority, AT&T is also going to expand its hybrid copper/fiber-based U-verse footprint throughout North Carolina. Today, the service provider offers U-verse in various communities: Asheville, Carrboro, Cary, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Winston-Salem and surrounding areas.

Outside of North Carolina, the service provider is making progress in both Texas and Tennessee by signing agreements this week with San Antonio and Nashville city officials.  

In April, the service provider said it would consider bringing its GigaPower network to up to 100 candidate cities and municipalities across 25 U.S. markets. As part of that initiative, AT&T said it is also considering other North Carolina areas, including Apex, Garner, Gastonia, Greensboro, Huntersville and Morrisville, as candidate municipalities for the service.

For more:
- see the release

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