AT&T (NYSE: T) and Knology are now going to face a new competitor in Lawrence, Kan., from Wicked Broadband, the latest service provider to follow the spirit of Google Fiber (Nasdaq: GOOG) with its own 1 Gbps fiber to the home service.
Like Google Fiber in Kansas City, Wicked Broadband will hold a content to see which Lawrence neighborhood will be the first to get the FTTH service installed.
Joshua Montgomery, Wicked Broadband's co-owner, said in a Lawrence Journal World article that "the neighborhood with the highest percentage of homes preregistering and paying the $10 registration fee will be chosen as the test neighborhood."
He added that they plan to announce the winner on June 16, with installation set to be begin later this year.
Similar to Google Fiber and Chattanooga, Tenn.-based EPB Fiber, Wicked is offering competitive pricing for its service. It plans to offer three speed tiers: 1 Gbps for $99.98 per month; 100 mbps service for $69.98 per month and 20 mbps service for $49.98 per month.
Another feature is that none of the plans will incorporate usage caps. This is unlike AT&T, which implemented caps on its standard DSL users.
Chris Lester, a spokesman for AT&T, told the Lawrence Journal World that they "welcomed the competition," adding that they have invested about $725 million in its Kansas area networks between 2009 and 2012.
The 1 Gbps FTTH race has picked up recently in both Kansas and Austin, Texas. After Google Fiber announced it would bring service to Austin, AT&T said it has begun putting together plans to offer a similar 1 Gbps service in the market, but gave no timeline when it would actually build out the network infrastructure or deliver service. Google Fiber, meanwhile will start connecting homes in Austin in mid-2014.
For more:
- Lawrence Journal World has this article
Special report: The Contenders: Municipal fiber providers meeting or beating the incumbent competition
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