High Speed Chase

Austin fiber showdown

By Leah Etling on Apr 12, 2013 in Technology

Austin, Texas is already famous. It is home to the major multimedia festival South by Southwest, a great music and arts scene, and fabulous queso. And now that Google and AT&T have decided to go head-to-head to deliver Austin super-duper fast Internet connectivity, it might be time to change the slogan “Keep Austin Weird” to “Keep Austin Wired.”

This week, AT&T announced that Austin will be the next city to benefit from the wonders of Google Fiber, which offers online access at speeds 100 times faster than what most of us are used to. How fast is one gigabit per second? Fast enough that you could download a 2GB file in a few seconds, rather than a few hours.  Kansas City was the first market to feel the magic. Fiber was rolled out there in late 2012, prompting the growth of new businesses, much media attention, and happy/lucky Internet users.

Google’s statement on why Austin was chosen for Fiber: “It’s a mecca for creativity and entrepreneurialism, with thriving artistic and tech communities, as well as the University of Texas and its new medical research hospital,” said Milo Medin, VP of access services for Google Fiber, on Google’s blog. “We’re sure these folks will do amazing things with gigabit access, and we feel very privileged to have been welcomed to their community.”

Google plans to be live with Fiber in Austin by summer 2014.

The very same day Austin’s selection as the next Fiber city was announced; AT&T announced it would bring its Project VIP effort to Austin, too. Project VIP is a broadband expansion effort, supported by advanced fiber optic infrastructure, that also promises speeds of 1 GBPS.

The nationwide effort entails AT&T spending $14 billion over the next three years to enhance its wireless and wired networks. Initial portions of the project are already available in Florida, where 4G LTE mobile coverage is now widely available.

In Austin, AT&T said the company expects “it will be granted the same terms and conditions as Google on issues such as geographic scope of offerings, rights of way, permitting, state licenses and any investment incentives.” No schedule for roll-out of AT&T fiber service has been released.

Austin, already humming with economic prosperity, has seen growth in technology companies, entrepreneurship, and employment over the last few years. Apple Inc., Samsung, Cirrus Logic, and Intel Corp. are among the companies with offices in the city. The city is expected to add 28,800 new jobs in 2013.

So what does the Fiber Showdown at the Austin corral mean for Austin businesses and residents? Well, coveted access to super-fast internet, for one thing. And healthy competition to reach customers, for another. Expect to be able to not just see great live music the next time you visit – but download it at superfast speeds, too.