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AT&T Brings Gigapower Gigabit Service to Parts of Chicago

AT&T continued its scattered deployment of its gigabit service today, announcing that the company's new U-Verse with Gigapower service will soon be available in parts of the Chicago suburbs. According to the full press release, AT&T will offer the symmetrical gigabit service in parts of Elgin, Oswego, Plainfield, Skokie, Yorkville and surrounding communities located throughout the metro area.

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The company states they'll expand the offering to parts of Chicago itself sometime this summer.

As with other Gigapower announcements, AT&T's primarily focused on boosting speeds at housing development where fiber's already in the ground, or users already have U-verse service over fiber but have been previously capped at DSL speeds.

Standalone gigabit promotional pricing starts at $120 and up, depending on your bundle. The company is also offering symmetrical 100 Mbps service to these same fiber to the home customers, starting at $90 a month and up depending on your bundle. In markets where AT&T goes head to head with Google Fiber, AT&T will usually match Google's $70 a month price point (plus the usual assortment of fees).
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bigballer
join:2014-09-25

bigballer

Member

Makes sense

A lot of these communities (except Skokie) are far out suburbs (30-40 miles west of Chicago) and are still developing. I imagine ATT is trying to work itself in slowly closer and closer to the city where I imagine costs are more prohibitive.

However, this is Comcast territory as well. What's Comcast's next move?

OpTiC
Premium Member
join:2014-03-08
West Covina, CA

OpTiC

Premium Member

Re: Makes sense

said by bigballer:

A lot of these communities (except Skokie) are far out suburbs (30-40 miles west of Chicago) and are still developing. I imagine ATT is trying to work itself in slowly closer and closer to the city where I imagine costs are more prohibitive.

However, this is Comcast territory as well. What's Comcast's next move?

Maybe the same what they are doing in California. That will probably be speed upgrade and 2GBPS connection.
en103
join:2011-05-02

en103

Member

Re: Makes sense

AT&T may be finally seeing the light - and have been playing their cards carefully.
If they had deployed FTTN ala VZ style FiOS, they would have spent a lot and obtained some.
Instead, they played catchup with Cable using FTTN / VDSL. With Comcast/TWC pushing +300Mbps to 2Gbps and Google coming into the play, they have no choice, or they'll be left with wireless only.

OpTiC
Premium Member
join:2014-03-08
West Covina, CA

OpTiC

Premium Member

Re: Makes sense

said by en103:

AT&T may be finally seeing the light - and have been playing their cards carefully.
If they had deployed FTTN ala VZ style FiOS, they would have spent a lot and obtained some.
Instead, they played catchup with Cable using FTTN / VDSL. With Comcast/TWC pushing +300Mbps to 2Gbps and Google coming into the play, they have no choice, or they'll be left with wireless only.

Newer FTTH deployments noticeably XG-PON is using the FTTP Verizon Fios style. Comcast 2GBPS is not Docsis it's Metro E.

RadioDoc

join:2000-05-11
La Grange, IL

RadioDoc to en103

to en103
said by en103:

they'll be left with wireless only

This is pretty much their long-term business plan.

why60loss
Premium Member
join:2012-09-20

why60loss

Premium Member

Re: Makes sense

said by RadioDoc:

said by en103:

they'll be left with wireless only

This is pretty much their long-term business plan.

Then why do this at all?

If they want to be Verizon why don't they just quit FTTH like Verizon and just sit around counting stacks of money?

And not upgrade towers to handle the load, just let some other guy deploy tons of microcells and put LTE on every tower. The 700mhz band has such mad reach just stretch it out in big city's and let it get down to sprint speeds. Then claim it's the unlimited data customers fault they won't invest jack into a wireless network that can handle more than a soft load.

P.S Not calling AT&T the good guy, but I feel like they are doing more than Verizon is right now and even others in the DSL business so that is my 2 cents.

RadioDoc

join:2000-05-11
La Grange, IL

RadioDoc

Re: Makes sense

700 MHz has proven to be a troubled band that is not living up to its hype.

In any event, they're doing these fiber deployments to keep the FCC & FTC off their asses. Kind of how auto companies rushed hybrid cars to market so their average MPG was over the minimum, AT&T needs to do this so they can claim to be in the broadband Internet access business. You should see the mess their existing copper network is rapidly turning into.

I have AT&T LTE and it generally performs well wherever I go. T-Mo's speeds are better but their coverage is a lot worse. Neither are a substitute for "landline" Internet especially in an office. I had that from AT&T for 15 years until their service began to literally fail every week. And that was "U-Verse". Comcast, of all companies, is doing it right around here and AT&T has conceded the market to them.

tigerpaw509
join:2011-01-19

tigerpaw509 to RadioDoc

Member

to RadioDoc
said by RadioDoc:

said by en103:

they'll be left with wireless only

This is pretty much their long-term business plan.

They would dump everything but wireless if they could.

cp
Premium Member
join:2004-05-14
Wheaton, IL

cp to bigballer

Premium Member

to bigballer
More reassurance that AT&T has no intention in upgrading its current copper infrastructure... sigh...

itzalex
join:2015-02-14
Osage Beach, MO

itzalex

Member

Re: Makes sense

Their myopic business practice in a nutshell.

RadioDoc

join:2000-05-11
La Grange, IL

RadioDoc to bigballer

to bigballer
said by bigballer:

What's Comcast's next move?

To continue laughing at AT&T's flaccid deployments.

They have failed to deliver on just about every promise around here and are still trying to pass off their ADSL2+ product as "U-Verse Internet" which can't even make it to Comcast's 16/1 basic product. The recent 17.5% price hike caused me to cancel at my office and they didn't even try to keep me as a customer, which pretty much tells the entire story. They're walking away from anything they have to spend money on.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

Re: Makes sense

Well dumping TV over to directv (for most subs other then ones who get can LOS) can open a lot of room for internet (my dropping the parts of the bandwidth to your home that are lock for TV use)

lhvetinari
yaW gnorW
join:2008-09-26
Kenosha/Chgo

lhvetinari to RadioDoc

Member

to RadioDoc
Suppose. I'm in a fairly well-to-do area (would probably be good ROI) and I didn't have anything better than 1m/128k DSL until midway through last year - then they finally gave us proper U-Verse. Though I find the wireless receivers to be buggy as fuck
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678 to bigballer

Member

to bigballer
said by bigballer:

A lot of these communities (except Skokie) are far out suburbs (30-40 miles west of Chicago) and are still developing. I imagine ATT is trying to work itself in slowly closer and closer to the city where I imagine costs are more prohibitive.

However, this is Comcast territory as well. What's Comcast's next move?

Comcast needs to step up there HD TV game they don't even have the part time CSN Chi Plus 2 HD feed that both U-verse and Directv have.

OpTiC
Premium Member
join:2014-03-08
West Covina, CA

OpTiC

Premium Member

Re: Makes sense

said by Joe12345678:

said by bigballer:

A lot of these communities (except Skokie) are far out suburbs (30-40 miles west of Chicago) and are still developing. I imagine ATT is trying to work itself in slowly closer and closer to the city where I imagine costs are more prohibitive.

However, this is Comcast territory as well. What's Comcast's next move?

Comcast needs to step up there HD TV game they don't even have the part time CSN Chi Plus 2 HD feed that both U-verse and Directv have.

The problem is Comcast is not running SDV which saves bandwidth for more HD channels. Once Comcast deploy MPEG-4 the will be the solution for the hd channels.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

Re: Makes sense

said by OpTiC :

said by Joe12345678:

said by bigballer:

A lot of these communities (except Skokie) are far out suburbs (30-40 miles west of Chicago) and are still developing. I imagine ATT is trying to work itself in slowly closer and closer to the city where I imagine costs are more prohibitive.

However, this is Comcast territory as well. What's Comcast's next move?

Comcast needs to step up there HD TV game they don't even have the part time CSN Chi Plus 2 HD feed that both U-verse and Directv have.

The problem is Comcast is not running SDV which saves bandwidth for more HD channels. Once Comcast deploy MPEG-4 the will be the solution for the hd channels.

that is just the start the channel maps are a big mess here.

Local HD channels are not groped next to each other HBO HD and SHOW HD are mixed in to a gap between local HD channels.

MAX HD and STARZS HD are right next to Disney HD and abc family HD. With locals on the other side of them. MAX has soft core porn on at nights it should not be near to disney or local channels.

ESPN2 HD is far from ESPN1 HD

local SD sub channels are mixed into the HD grouping and some local HD channels are not near the other locals in HD.

cable SD channels are mixed in to the HD grouping

HBO 2 HD, hbo latino HD and HBO Zone HD are very near each other but far from the MAIN HBO HD channel.

BTN ALTS (SD only) are near the foreign channels and music choice aka very far from the main channel.

GAME2HD is on top of GAME1HD and near GAME1-game10 SD with some sd cable channels fill a gap from game11-game14

TEAM1HD is on the bottom of TEAM1-TEAM10 SD

ESPN PPV (game plan / full court) is next to the adult channels

OpTiC
Premium Member
join:2014-03-08
West Covina, CA

OpTiC

Premium Member

Re: Makes sense

said by Joe12345678:

that is just the start the channel maps are a big mess here.

Local HD channels are not groped next to each other HBO HD and SHOW HD are mixed in to a gap between local HD channels.

MAX HD and STARZS HD are right next to Disney HD and abc family HD. With locals on the other side of them. MAX has soft core porn on at nights it should not be near to disney or local channels.

ESPN2 HD is far from ESPN1 HD

local SD sub channels are mixed into the HD grouping and some local HD channels are not near the other locals in HD.

cable SD channels are mixed in to the HD grouping

HBO 2 HD, hbo latino HD and HBO Zone HD are very near each other but far from the MAIN HBO HD channel.

BTN ALTS (SD only) are near the foreign channels and music choice aka very far from the main channel.

GAME2HD is on top of GAME1HD and near GAME1-game10 SD with some sd cable channels fill a gap from game11-game14

TEAM1HD is on the bottom of TEAM1-TEAM10 SD

ESPN PPV (game plan / full court) is next to the adult channels

I know Comcast is a big mess. I hope Comcast adopt TWC channel line up which is base on the channel and genre.

itzalex
join:2015-02-14
Osage Beach, MO

itzalex to Joe12345678

Member

to Joe12345678
said by Joe12345678:

MAX HD and STARZS HD are right next to Disney HD and abc family HD. With locals on the other side of them. MAX has soft core porn on at nights it should not be near to disney or local channels.

said by Joe12345678:

ESPN PPV (game plan / full court) is next to the adult channels

Wow, and I thought it was bad in the DFW area. It has been a few years since I've seen the lineups but I also remember Oceanic Time Warner (Hawaii) and it didn't have that (I think). Then again there should be a parental control and hide channels on the receivers. Then again those controls are easy to circumvent.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

Re: Makes sense

It's not just parental controls why have MAX HD next to local channels?
clone (banned)
join:2000-12-11
Portage, IN

clone (banned)

Member

Re: Makes sense

The entire lineup makes no sense. I upgraded my father to an HDTV, finally, but then I had to make a list of all the channels he normally watches and their HD counterparts. Even a non-technically inclined 75-year old man asked my why don't they just put the HD version of channel 2 on channel 202 or 302, channel 5 on 205 or 305, etc? I had no answer.

Even myself, I can't keep track of the majority of the HD channels. I just remember than channel 9 is actually 192 in HD and then just root around from there to find the local channel I'm looking for. This would have to be my biggest gripe with Comcast. I wish my Tivo boxes would just let me map my own channel lineup that everyone can remember.

On more than one occasion I've been channel surfing and ended up on a channel I normally don't watch in SD and just left it because it would be too much hassle to find out where the HD version is hiding.

richrockstar
join:2013-04-22
Wake Forest, NC

richrockstar

Member

say it karl

fiber to the press!!
67845017 (banned)
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL

67845017 (banned)

Member

No Naperville?

WTH????

cp
Premium Member
join:2004-05-14
Wheaton, IL

1 recommendation

cp

Premium Member

Re: No Naperville?

Even the land of the Land Rovers is doomed to copper.

chip89
Premium Member
join:2012-07-05
Columbia Station, OH

chip89

Premium Member

Re: No Naperville?

Nope that's where WOW is headquartered.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

1 recommendation

Joe12345678 to cp

Member

to cp
it's on the other list

Chicago, Des Plaines, Glenview, Lombard, Mount Prospect, Naperville, Park Ridge, Skokie, and Wheaton
- See more at: »about.att.com/story/att_ ··· DMj.dpuf
bigballer
join:2014-09-25

bigballer

Member

Re: No Naperville?

Definitely looks like ATT's trying to reclaim some users around here considering their archaic DSL is shitastic compared to Comcast's speeds.

cbrigante2
Wait til Next Year
Premium Member
join:2002-11-22
North Aurora, IL

cbrigante2 to Joe12345678

Premium Member

to Joe12345678
Figures that North Aurora isn't on the list. Hopefully it pushes speeds up and prices down with Comcast.
The Engineer
join:2015-04-02
Munster, IN

The Engineer

Member

Exurbs, new developments in cornfields

If you know anything about Chicagoland, you know that these towns have a lot of newer developments. Stuff built in the last decade. They're not replacing copper with fiber.

Those of us with older homes (mine was built in '99, but oh well ) have a lot longer to wait.

I imagine that towns like Des Plaines and Mount Prospect might get fiber sooner, as they have overhead wires. I have to think buried utilities cost more to upgrade.

caster
@sysvana.com

caster

Anon

Re: Exurbs, new developments in cornfields

There is lots of Fiber around they may even be running more it.

bockbock
@hcs.net

bockbock to The Engineer

Anon

to The Engineer
99' ? That's an older subdivision?
The Engineer
join:2015-04-02
Munster, IN

The Engineer

Member

Re: Exurbs, new developments in cornfields

No, but there's no fiber in the ground, that's for sure.

bockbock
@hcs.net

bockbock

Anon

Google in Chicago?

So why doesn't Google Fiber come to Chicago? The city is so dense with infrastructure that you could possibly just run the fiber through the sewer pipes. As far as AT&T U-Verse goes, the city doesn't even have the 45 or 75 Mbps tiers yet, unless you are in the suburbs.

Ganthet
join:2009-08-05
Kansas City, MO

1 recommendation

Ganthet

Member

Re: Google in Chicago?

.
said by bockbock :

So why doesn't Google Fiber come to Chicago? The city is so dense with infrastructure that you could possibly just run the fiber through the sewer pipes. As far as AT&T U-Verse goes, the city doesn't even have the 45 or 75 Mbps tiers yet, unless you are in the suburbs.

If you've ever seen Chicago politics in action you know why

ryder9
join:2003-01-09
here

ryder9

Member

FTTH in chicago

As far as I know,the FTTH developments are in the former project locations..considered greenfield developments
Former Ida B Wells,including the upcoming Mariano's, Stateway, Robert Taylor, and the new development on Oakenwald, next to the Metra

andyross
MVM
join:2003-05-04
Aurora, IL

andyross

MVM

I doubt never by me

Although there is true U-Verse around me, at my location, I cannot get it. I've gotten flyers from them recently that my areas was upgraded, but when I checked, all I can get is 1.5M Internet and phone. In other words, just DSL and digital phone. I already have DSL as backup (I work from home, but hate the now $42 price!), so there is little incentive. The price difference is virtually nothing.
roggrat
join:2008-07-12
Houston, TX

roggrat

Member

Sorry its not available in your area!

I've had At&t for 6 years with the initial deployment being FTTH. Yet I only recently was able to upgrade from 18mbps to 45mbps. The 24mbps was magically unavailable before that. The company is pathetic in its fiber to the press shenanigans.

Nuckfuts
Premium Member
join:2003-10-18
Joliet, IL

Nuckfuts

Premium Member

Really!!!

So I am on FTTN and the subdivision next to me is FTTP so they will get 1 gbps and I still only get 45 mbps and maybe 75 mbps on useless copper. Awesome and pay almost the same. Smart move AT&T.

Sacrmi
@rcn.com

Sacrmi

Anon

In chicago?

So, I just did 'check availability' for my new apartment that will be in the loop and got 'not available'. And I see Chicago on the list... wonder which specific area of Chicago they're talking about.