Gigabit network deployments are picking up speed, with CenturyLink today adding Las Vegas to a recent string of other gigabit network announcements from AT&T, Frontier and C Spire.
A CenturyLink spokewoman said the company’s 1 Gbps service “can be packaged with the company’s advanced Prism TV service for $124.95 per month, plus applicable taxes, fees, and surcharges.”
“We know our customers will embrace this new technology that will allow them to simultaneously use multiple devices in their homes and businesses without the burden of bandwidth constraints,” said CenturyLink CTO Matt Beal in today’s announcement.
CenturyLink previously launched a gigabit fiber network in Omaha, Neb. in May 2013 and expects to complete deployment of fiber-to-the-premises to “targeted homes and businesses” by the end of this month.
Plans announced for Las Vegas used similar wording, noting that the company will deploy gigabit capability in “select” Las Vegas neighborhoods.
One of the reasons gigabit networks have begun to mushroom is that cities have begun to offer increased flexibility about network build-out requirements.
Google started the trend in its widely publicized Kansas City network, where the company persuaded administrators to allow the company potentially to build only in areas where a minimum amount of residents have said they would pay for it.
It took Google, which is not a typical communications service provider, to gain approval to use that approach rather than committing up front to a community-wide build-out. But when Google set out to use the same approach in Austin, Tex., it wasn’t long before AT&T stepped in to say it would deploy gigabit service if it could get the same terms and conditions.
And since then more service providers, including CenturyLink, have gained approval to use a similar approach.
“1 Gbps symmetrical speed provides a tremendous economic advantage for small businesses because it allows them to purchase their IT infrastructure through the cloud while substantially lowering operating costs,” commented Jeff Oberschelp, CenturyLink vice president and general manager for Las Vegas in today’s release. “This capability is key to growing a vibrant startup and tech community in Las Vegas.”
The Las Vegas deployment will reach some customers this fall, with additional communities added in 2014.
