Chapel Hill, N.C., becomes latest AT&T 1 gig market

The North Carolina Next Generation Network (NCNGN) initiative served as a catalyst for AT&T's (NYSE: T) expanded 1 gigabit Internet delivery, which now will include residents and businesses in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Chapel Hill officials ratified an agreement with AT&T to offer its U-verse with GigaPower service over a fiber network already serving the city thanks to the NCNGN, which is made up of six cities, four leading universities and local businesses pushing high-speed broadband networks throughout the state. In addition to high-speed Internet, the deal also calls for AT&T to offer advanced TV services throughout the service area.

"This is excellent news for Chapel Hill residents and businesses," the city's mayor, Mark Kleinschmidt, said in an AT&T news release.

Kleinschmidt said the high-speed broadband network will "contribute to our efforts to offer a new level of participation in digital democracy and civic engagement, expand opportunities of education and research and drive job creation and economic growth."

The key to the deal was the NCNGN initiative, which has also played a part in agreements with Cary, Durham, Raleigh and Winston-Salem and is a factor in a pending deal in Carrboro, AT&T said.

For more:
- see this AT&T press release

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