AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) has revealed plans to expand its gigabit speed broadband package into the Kansas City area, particularly in business areas.
The telecommunications company believes that the Kansas City area is one of the few places where businesses can afford to purchase the high-speed package. According to the company, Missouri has more than 1,200 office buildings that have already been fitted with fiber networks. Access to the service will thus depend on whether the buildings are serviced with fiber lines, but AT&T is working on bringing the service to more businesses. The firm’s portfolio for the business package includes voice over internet protocol service, u-Verse Business Voice, and AT&T business Fiber.
The firm is also expanding the gigabit speed internet service to businesses in Lawrence. A few other cities that enjoy the service include Springfield, St. Joseph, Topeka, Jefferson City, and Wichita. The company is expanding its gigabit offering so as to counter competition from rivals such as Google Fiber from Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL). The latter has led to some frenzy in the internet industry due to the combination of Gigabit speed and fair pricing. Google also targets residential customers while AT&T aims to offer its service to businesses. The telecommunications firm has therefore been beefing up its efforts to offer high-speed internet and secure more ground over Alphabet.
AT&T spokesman Chris Lester pointed out that the service is currently limited to business locations where fiber networks have already been laid out. Lester, however, stated that the firm’s fiber network is large enough to facilitate connection to businesses within Lawrence. The spokesman also stated that the business package takes a neighborhood approach where it depends on where there is proper fiber wiring. Gigabit speed has been described as the next big thing compared to the broadband speeds offered by internet service providers. According to Lawrence resident Mike Scott, AT&T has spent roughly $850 million to build up the wireless and wired networks in Kansas City.