U.S. telecom behemoth AT&T, Inc. T is moving full steam ahead with its objective to roll out ultra high-speed Internet service across the country.
Recently, the company announced plans to expand its super-fast fiber optic broadband service – GigaPower – to 38 additional cities, bringing the total tally to 56 locations.
Meanwhile, with the recent launch of the service in parts of Los Angeles and West Palm Beach, this service is now available in 20 markets.
However, as the network installation is in progress, the charges for the service are still undecided. Notably, AT&T launched GigaPower in Austin, Texas around two years back. Presently, the service is accessible in over 1 million locations around the country and the count is likely to double by the end of 2016.
Further, the company intends to maintain the rollout of this Gigabit-speed Internet service over a 100% fiber network to reach in excess of 14 million residential and commercial locations.
All About GigaPower
With the availability of GigaPower services, residential and small business customers will be able to enjoy Internet speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps).
Customers will also be able to download as many as 25 songs in less than a second. Downloading a TV show will take less than three seconds, while an HD movie will require under 36 seconds.
Moreover, AT&T’s GigaPower will provide customers with latest Wi-Fi technology, best in-home Wi-Fi speeds, extended coverage as well as support for all devices.
Other Players
Comcast Corp. CMCSA has started deploying fiber-based 2 Gbps residential broadband Internet services in certain regions. Known as Gigabit Pro, this new service runs on fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) technology. Comcast intends to reach Gigabit Pro to around 18 million users out of its nearly 22 million high-speed data subscribers across the country, by the end of this year.
Recently, Verizon Communications Inc. VZ completed a trial run of a new technology on its state-of-the-art fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network for both residential and business customers. Popularly known as next-generation passive optical network (NG-PON2), this technology can deliver an exceptional 10 Gbps of upload and download speeds. Notably, Verizon’s 10 Gbps data transmission speed will at least be 100 times faster than the average Internet speeds available in the U.S.
Moreover, Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL high-speed Internet broadband service, Google Fiber, offers speeds of up to 1 Gbps, for $70 a month. Google Fiber is currently available in only 3 U.S. cities, however, plans are in place for further expansion of the service.
Bottom Line
The fiber optic network is becoming the most sought-after technology for secure and fast data transmission. Going forward, the wireline industry will largely evolve around fiber-based superfast gigabit data transmission networks.
Naturally, AT&T is going all out to reach more metros with blazing fast Gigabit Internet speeds through its GigaPower service. Further, the company boasts the best Internet speeds in the industry as it is the only U.S. carrier that provides 4G network through both Long Term Evolution (LTE) and High-Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+) technologies.
Thus, we believe that such lofty expansion plans has lent AT&T an upper hand in the high-speed 1 Gbps Internet market.
AT&T currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Be the first to comment