Officials for Carrboro have ratified an agreement that will clear the way for AT&T to rollout its fiber-based, 1-Gig capable U-verse With GigaPower to parts of the city.
The agreement stems from a North Carolina Next Generation Network (NCNGN) initiative comprised of six cities, four universities, and local businesses. AT&T has already received approval for GigaPower from Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Cary, Winston-Salem and Durham.
"It is exciting that Carrboro has the opportunity to partner with AT&T GigaPower initiative. The state-of-the-art technology that this network delivers will help both residents and businesses," said Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle, in a statement. "In addition, I am pleased that this service will be extended to community centers and other public gathering spaces to provide access for our diverse community."
Specific locations, availability, and pricing for products powered by the coming GigaPower network will be announced at a later date, AT&T said.
But it’s possible that it will follow the GigaPower pricing plans it’s put into place in parts of Austin, Texas, where it currently offers symmetrical 300 Mbps speeds, with plans to upgrade to 1 Gbps. There, the broadband service runs $70 per month, $100 per month when paired with the U-verse Voice Unlimited service, $120 per month with the U200 TV package with HBO, and $150 per month with U200 TV with HBO and U-verse Voice Unlimited. All offers are saddled with one-year commitments that could result in an early termination fee of up to $348, according to the fine print.
The Austin version of U-verse with GigaPower is also capped at 1 terabyte per month. AT&T charges $10 for each additional bucket of 50 Gigabytes above that threshold, with a maximum monthly overage charge of $30.
The Raleigh-Durham, Carrboro, Cary, and Chapel Hill are among the areas identified as possible expansion sites for Google Fiber, which is exploring a plan to bring its 1-Gig platform and video service bundles to an additional nine metro markets and up to 34 cities.
Time Warner Cable, which is deploying a 300 Mbps service as part of its ongoing all-digital “TWC Maxx” upgrades, is the incumbent cable operator in the region.
