AT&T Rolls Out GigaPower Internet In Atlanta Following Google Fiber And Comcast Gigabit Pro Announcements

Google Fiber offers a bunch of awesome benefits to its customers that makes the rest of us jealous: 1Gbps speed - down and up - unlimited bandwidth, and fair pricing. There's another benefit though that might not be as obvious: it kicks other ISPs into gear.

This is something that can both please and anger people. If you're in a Google Fiber area, any effect the service has on the competition is a good thing. But as an outsider, it's frustrating because not only do you not get access to Google Fiber, but you also don't get access to the lower rates or better speeds your own ISP is offering in that area.

Take this, for example. In late January, we reported that Google Fiber would be rolling out to four cities, with Atlanta being one of them. Now, AT&T through the kindness of its heart has decided to roll out its GigaPower service to the city, offering speeds of "up to" 1Gbps (I am unsure if that counts for upload as well.)

This isn't the first time AT&T has pushed GigaPower into markets where Google Fiber has entered, and so like those, we'd expect that the company will price its packages similarly to Google's in Atlanta. For those on AT&T in Atlanta, there's some good news: the package upgrades are rolling out now, so if you're at all curious about 1Gbps, it'd be worth giving the company a call.

In related news, just earlier this month we learned that Comcast would be launching a 2Gbps service in Atlanta - something even more impressive than AT&T's current move.

I am not really sure if either AT&T's or Comcast's move will impact the success of Google Fiber too much, as Google is far more clear about what you get - guaranteed 1Gbps down and up. AT&T doesn't even seem to guarantee 1Gbps speeds at all. If you look around the Web you will be able to find Speedtest results as low as one-fourth of that total capability. In that case, I'd still quicker trust Google's service.

And, I guess there's a part of me that simply hates companies that offer a great deal only because of competition. That alone would make me shift over to Google Fiber if I were in Atlanta, if not for any other reason than to support the company that's making good changes happen.