|
AT&T expands gigabit fiber to 23 cities starting at $70 (or $110)
Suburbs of Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Miami, and others lit up with "GigaPower."
by Jon Brodkin - Nov 10, 2015 9:40am CST
AT&T yesterday announced expansions of its gigabit fiber Internet service into parts of 23 cities and towns.
The new markets are mostly in the suburbs of big cities where AT&T already offered its fastest broadband. For example, AT&T previously brought its "U-verse with GigaPower" service to Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Miami, Nashville, and Orlando. The expansion this week brings the service into a bunch of cities and towns within the larger metro areas.
AT&T’S PLAN TO WATCH YOUR WEB BROWSING—AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT
Want to opt out? It could cost up to $744 extra per year.
Pricing for the Internet-only 1Gbps package is either $70 a month or $110 a month, depending on where you live. As we've reported previously, AT&T tends to match Google Fiber's $70 pricing, but not in areas where Google isn't offering service. Besides that, AT&T's lowest price in each city requires customers to opt into "Internet Preferences," which gives the company permission to examine each customer’s Web traffic in order to serve personalized ads.
The higher $110 gigabit pricing is used in the Chicago, Houston, Miami, and Orlando metro areas, with 300Mbps speeds costing $80 a month. The other markets in yesterday's announcements can buy gigabit service for $70 a month.
AT&T has been expanding its fiber network despite the company's previous claims that new common carrier regulations and net neutrality rules for broadband providers would stifle investment. But the expansion is not unexpected, because AT&T agreed to it in exchange for government clearance of its DirecTV acquisition.
The full list of new GigaPower cities includes the Atlanta suburbs of Alpharetta, Cartersville, Duluth, East Point, and Rome; Chicago suburbs of Bolingbrook, Mundelein, Shorewood, and Volo; the Nashville suburb of Gallatin; the Houston suburbs of Hunters Creek Village and Rosenberg; the Miami suburbs of Coral Gables, Homestead, Miami Gardens, and Parkland; the Nashville suburb of Spring Hill; and the Orlando suburbs of Oviedo and Sanford. Rounding out the list of new Gigapower markets are Clemmons, Garner, Holly Springs, and Salisbury in North Carolina.
AT&T also said it plans to make GigaPower available in parts of Munster, Indiana; Elmwood Park, Illinois; Avondale Estates and Jonesboro in Georgia; and North Miami, Florida.
__________________
|