Photo courtesy of AT&T

Photo courtesy of AT&T

AT&T announced Monday plans to roll out its ultra-fast fiber network and AT&T U-Verse TV service to San Antonio and 20 other major metropolitan areas.
The company already delivers its 1 Gigabit per second broadband Internet network to Austin. It began to offer service there after Google announced plans for a 1 Gigabit network in Austin.
Google also announced earlier this year that San Antonio is on a short list of cities which may receive its Google fiber high speed network.
Why is this a big deal for Central Texas’ technology industry? Because Austin already has a Google Fiber network underway and AT&T is offering the service there. San Marcos-based Grande Communications has also announced plans for a 1 Gigabit network in Austin. And Time Warner announced plans to increase its speeds to 300 mbps up from 50 mbps in June.
Competition is good for the consumer. It means lower prices and better products.
But the benefit doesn’t stop there.
Startup companies and established companies with access to high-speed networks can dream up the innovative products that will drive our economy forward. They will be able to compete on a global scale with other countries that have much faster networks in place already.
In addition, the ability to get high speed Internet to all areas of the city benefits everyone because an educated population is a productive population.
“Similar to previously announced metro area selections in Austin and Dallas and advanced discussions in Raleigh-Durham and Winston-Salem, communities that have suitable network facilities, and show the strongest investment cases based on anticipated demand and the most receptive policies will influence these future selections and coverage maps within selected areas,” according to a news release.
In addition to San Antonio, the other metropolitan areas includes: Atlanta, Augusta, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Fort Worth, Fort Lauderdale, Greensboro, Houston, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Oakland, Orlando, San Diego, St. Louis, San Francisco, and San Jose.”
AT&T U-verse with GigaPower services are available in Austin and some surrounding communities, and are expected to roll out in parts of Dallas this summer. AT&T is also expanding its coverage in the Austin area.