Having announced successful negotiations with the city of Winston-Salem for provision of its 1-Gbps U-verse with GigaPower service (see "Gigabit FTTH agreement reached by AT&T, Winston-Salem officials"), AT&T has announced similar agreements with local officials in Durham, Raleigh, and Cary, NC. All four municipalities, members of the North Carolina Next Generation Network (NCNGN), will see AT&T provide its 1-Gbps service via a fiber to the home (FTTH) infrastructure.
AT&T reached an initial agreement with NCNGN for the GigaPower service earlier this year (see "AT&T negotiates for 1-Gbps FTTH in North Carolina"). That pact called for the service provider to reach individual agreements with local officials in each of NCNGN’s six city members. The two remaining holdouts are Chapel Hill and Carrboro. AT&T is in negotiations with city officials in these two towns, where AT&T already is providing its U-Verse service.
Other members of NCNGN include Duke University (located in Durham), North Carolina State University (in the state’s capital of Raleigh), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Wake Forest University/Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (both in Winston-Salem).
It appears unlikely that AT&T will provide the 1-Gbps GigaPower service to all sectors of the four municipalities. The timing of when the high-speed FTTH services will become available has not been announced.
"We've already received great input from North Carolinians eager for the fastest available speeds," said Venessa Harrison, President, AT&T-North Carolina. "This ultra-fast fiber build will help foster innovation, enhance education, and encourage growth."
AT&T says it has spent more than $1.6 billion in its North Carolina wireless and wireline networks between 2011 and 2013.
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