Residents of Raleigh, N.C. began enjoying ultra-fast Internet access in their homes and businesses on Thursday, after AT&T launched its new and long-awaited fiber network, U-verse, that boasts one gigabit per second GigaPower speeds.
AT&T's "North Carolina Next Generation Initiative" (NCNG) is part of the company's wider plan to bring television, Internet and voicemail services to 100 participating cities including Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston and Miami. Future U.S. roll outs are slated to include Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose.
"We've already received great input from North Carolinians eager for the fastest available speeds," said Venessa Harrison, President of AT&T North Carolina. "This ultra-fast fiber build will help foster innovation, enhance education and encourage growth."
"The announcement that AT&T is prepared to deploy gigabit speed Internet service to Greater Raleigh is terrific news for economic development," Harvey Schmitt, president and CEO for the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce added. "It brands Raleigh and our region as the leading edge of a technology revolution. It gives our companies and employees a technology that will spur operational efficiencies. And given our tech savvy population, it will open the door to innovations in products and services heretofore unimagined or not available without significant expense."
Six municipalities and four universities make up the NCNG. Chambers of Commerce and businesses in North Carolina's research triangle are also lending their hand.
"We're interested in working with communities that appreciate the value of the most advanced technologies and are willing to encourage investment by offering solid investment cases and policies," said Lori Lee, AT&T's senior executive vice president of home solutions.
"We are going to hit 1 million new business locations with fiber this year," added Randall Stephenson, AT&T's CEO, at a Morgan Stanley conference on March 6.
