AT&T has launched its fiber-based, 1-Gig-capable “GigaPower” service in parts of Chicago, where the telco competes with Comcast and RCN Corp.
AT&T said it will initially offer GigaPower in parts of Elgin, Oswego, Plainfield, Skokie, Yorkville and “surrounding communities located throughout the metro area.” AT&T estimates that it has invested more than $3 billion on its wireless and wired networks in Illinois between 2012 through 2014.
Comcast has identified Atlanta and California as markets that will get its new FTTP-powered “Gigabit Pro,” which will deliver symmetrical 2 Gbps speeds on a targeted basis to residential customers. Comcast plans to make Gigabit Pro available to as many as 18 million homes this year, but has not yet said when it will offered in the Chicago market. Comcast also plans to offer gigabit speeds on its more broadly deployed HFC network using DOCSIS 3.1.
In Chicago, AT&T is selling stand-alone 1-Gig starting at $120 per month, or 100 Mbps starting at $90 per month, under a “Premier” tier that requires customers to participate in the telco’s Internet Preferences targeted Web advertising initiative. The 1-Gig/TV bundle starts at $150 per month, while a triple-play version starts at $180 per month. AT&T has also been applying a monthly data consumption policy to GigaPower that caps usage at 1-terabyte before charging $10 for each additional bucket of 50 Gigabytes, with a maximum monthly overage charge of $30.
AT&T is selling GigaPower services for less in Kansas City, where Google Fiber has already launched 1-Gig broadband and pay TV services, including an uncapped, stand-alone 1 Gbps offering that runs $70 per month.
AT&T has also launched GigaPower in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston and Fort Worth, Texas; Cupertino, Calif.; Kansas City; and Raleigh-Durham and Winston-Salem, N.C. AT&T has announced plans to deploy GigaPower in parts of several other markets, including Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C.; Chicago; Jacksonville and Miami, Fla.; Nashville, Tenn.; St. Louis; and San Antonio.
The telco has also pledged to expand its fiber-based platform to an additional 2 million customer locations as part of its proposed acquisition of DirecTV.
