AT&T (NYSE: T) is upgrading existing fiber to the premises (FTTP) network users in Austin, Texas, to 1 Gbps, joining cable overbuilder Grande Communications as the second provider to support such speeds.
Customers that already subscribe to the U-verse with GigaPower service with 300 Mbps will see their Internet speeds be automatically upgraded to 1 Gbps at no additional cost over the next few weeks.
In addition, AT&T launched a new interactive TV app exclusively for Austin area residents, called Austin Found, which provides Austin U-verse TV customers personalized information on Austin food, entertainment and other events with just a click of the remote.
As an added incentive, AT&T also introduced a new promotion for Austin area residents to entice existing wireless customers to sign up for GigaPower. Subscribers will get a one-time $100 promotional credit on their wireless bill through Nov. 8. Likewise, customers that have GigaPower and want to add AT&T wireless service can also get the wireless credit.
The telco is beating out Google Fiber, which plans to start rolling out its own 1 Gbps service sometime later this year. In April, the Internet giant's plans hit a snag when the company revealed it still had to gain approval for 36 active or pending rights of way use permits. However, no other details about geographic locations of the Google Fiber service have been revealed.
AT&T and Google aren't the only games in Austin's 1 Gbps town, however.
Grande has begun offering its own 1 Gbps service to about a quarter of the cable provider's existing 75,000 Austin customers. The cable overbuilder's service is competitively priced at $65 a month without a contract. Customers who bundle other services such as video and voice will pay even less.
For more:
- see the release
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