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AT&T GigaPower Coming to UT Student Housing Complex

AT&T this week announced that the company will be expanding their Gigapower ultra-fast U-Verse service to one student housing complex at the University of Texas (The Villas on 26th) in Austin starting August 1. Austin is AT&T's first 1 Gbps "Gigapower" market, even if those users are currently clocked in at around 300 Mbps, the service comes with a bevy of fees, and users have to pay a steep premium for privacy.

"Technology fuels Austin. And Austinites consume data at rates 15 percent to 20 percent higher than the average AT&T U-verse user, which is why we decided to roll this out first in Austin," said Dave Nichols, president, AT&T Texas. "With U-verse with GigaPower, The Villas on 26th residents can download their favorite TV show in under 9 seconds and enjoy the best online and TV experience in the capital city."

While it's always nice to see faster speeds, AT&T has been bluffing about the scale of their 1 Gbps expansion, recently claiming the company is considering 100 additional cities for deployment. There's no budget for -- or interest in -- a project of that size at AT&T, where the focus remains on wireless. As such, AT&T's lighting up some high-end developments (and apparently college housing complexes) where fiber is already in the ground, then pretending these deployments are larger than they actually are to deflate some of the attention given to Google Fiber.

Like most "fiber to the press release" deployments, AT&T is intentionally quite unspecific about what other neighborhoods or markets are set to see the faster U-Verse connections, or precisely how many "Gigapower" customers will ultimately be served.
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dnoyeB
Ferrous Phallus
join:2000-10-09
Southfield, MI

dnoyeB

Member

Woot!

Gonna be lotsa Warcraft II LAN parties now!
biochemistry
Premium Member
join:2003-05-09
92361

biochemistry

Premium Member

Privacy

I still don't believe anyone will get privacy for an extra $30 a month. Privacy is most important when it comes to government nosiness and AT&T is far too willing to hand their info over to the first spook without a warrant.
ITGeeks
join:2014-04-20
Cleveland, OH

ITGeeks

Member

Re: Privacy

And you think they get it with GF?
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz

Member

Re: Privacy

There was a study (recent DSLR post) that shows Google makes an effort to protect personal data from NSA unless getting warrant. ATT apparently collaborates with the NSA and w/out a warrant.

It would be interesting to see what privacy differences there are between ATT $70, $100 services and GFiber. I don't mean just the TOS but would like to see EFF or a privacy group dig a little deeper on the differences of internal practices.
coryw
join:2013-12-22
Flagstaff, AZ

coryw

Member

Re: Privacy

It would be really interesting to see that. To be honest, Google Fiber is very appealing from a technical standpoint, but I'd have a real problem making it my only ISP, purely because of the privacy-from-advertisers perspective.

It's pretty much shenanigans that AT&T asks you to pay extra to get around that, but it's at least neat that they allow it.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz

Member

Re: Privacy

Google doesn't sell advertisers personal data. They do freaky things like bot scan gmail to target ads but so do the other major email providers. It's all internal to Google though, not giving away personal data - maybe aggregated data, but not personal. Google collects so much info internally that it would be bad if someone hacked an account, but same can be said for a bank/financial acct. At least they provide controls to delete history, not sure if any others do that.

Would like to see a report that compares ISPs based on what kind of data gets out and what stays internal per ISP. There was one on who fights the NSA (ATT doesn't) but not a general internal/external privacy comparison.
coryw
join:2013-12-22
Flagstaff, AZ

coryw

Member

Re: Privacy

There's this: »www.eff.org/who-has-your ··· ack-2013 but I don't know if it was published in time for the whole NSA thing.

I don't necessarily buy that Google doesn't sell advertisers your personal data, or at least not access to it and some potentially revealing information about you. I'm not very hard on the Google-mistrust train, but I am definitely skeptical of Google Fiber, just because even though Google started out as a tech company, it's basically undeniable that they are, today, an advertising company.

Oh, there's an updated report too: »www.eff.org/who-has-your ··· ack-2014 Showing Verizon moving from zero stars to several. Sonic.net seems to be the most interested in really protecting their users, and it helps that networks and Internet is their core business, the thing that actually brings the bread home at night.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

1 edit

existenz

Member

Re: Privacy

Yeah, that's the study I was referring to above that fights for privacy and requiring a warrant for data. What I'd like to see are studies/audits that check ISPs for how they use your personal information and if they don't give it away as they claim (or not).

Google services allow you to delete/modify your history with google.com/history, with quite a bit of granular control. If you use Google services on other ISPs, it only deletes/modifies on Google, not the ISP logs. If you delete history on Google service using Google Fiber, it supposedly is gone across the board since Google Fiber supposedly uses the same DB to log info (maybe not). Would like to see 3rd party audit reports that verify that and also compare to other ISPs. This would actually be a case that Google Fiber is better at allowing user control as I don't know think other ISPs allow you to delete history - and all the majors collect your history.

As far as selling ads, Google claims they don't sell personal info to advertisers w/out your consent. Would like to see 3rd party audit to validate that but is reasonably likely that they sell just aggregated data only, like this many people in this zipcode visit this web site or watch this video, etc.

austinite
@66.87.75.x

austinite

Anon

Will ATT oversubscribe?

I'm hearing Austin users saying they can't get anywhere near 300Mbps at night.

David
Premium Member
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL

David

Premium Member

Re: Will ATT oversubscribe?

how and what equipment are they running the speed tests on? if it's 802.11g you will never get 300mbps just like if your ethernet syncs up at 100mbps you won't see 300mbps speed tests either.

that's one of the common problems that's been found out in the field. A lot of consumer hardware won't test at 300Mbps.

I have had to have this conversation with a few people in direct when I start asking about equipment specs and model numbers.
coryw
join:2013-12-22
Flagstaff, AZ

coryw

Member

On Campus Housing?

Is this on campus housing or a privately owned complex that happens to be adjacent to U of T? It would seem odd to me to have a telco directly wire up the student housing in an institutional environment. Many bigger universities provide 10, 100 or 1000 megabit LAN access and local cable in student housing just as a part of the fact that this is what they already do for the rest of campus.

OSUGoose
join:2007-12-27
Columbus, OH
Apple AirPort Extreme (2013)

OSUGoose

Member

Re: On Campus Housing?

AUSTIN, May 28, 2014 %u2013 AT&T* and The Villas today announced an agreement to offer AT&T U-verse® with GigaPower%u2120 over a fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network to The Villas on 26th just across The Drag from The University of Texas.

Set to open on Aug. 1, The Villas on 26th will offer AT&T's U-verse with GigaPower to residents with speeds capable of downloading an HD movie in less than two minutes¹, cutting-edge TV services and U-verse Voice on an advanced, all-fiber network.

"The Villas on 26th are breaking new ground by being the first student housing development at UT to offer ultra high-tech amenities like built-in home automation and in-wall touch screens in all apartments. Much of the Villas will even have private, furnished home theaters in each individual apartment, said Brad Zucker, Developer of The Villas. "Offering AT&T's latest innovation, U-verse with GigaPower, continues to set us apart from other communities in delivering a technology-first living experience."

AT&T launched U-verse with GigaPower in Austin in December 2013 with speeds of up to 300 megabits per second (Mbps) %u2013 and plans to increase speeds to up to 1 gigabit per second this year. U-verse with GigaPower customers also have access to cutting-edge TV services that enable viewers to watch and record more shows simultaneously with our largest storage capacity DVR.

"Technology fuels Austin. And Austinites consume data at rates 15 percent to 20 percent higher than the average AT&T U-verse user, which is why we decided to roll this out first in Austin," said Dave Nichols, president, AT&T Texas. "With U-verse with GigaPower, The Villas on 26th residents can download their favorite TV show in under 9 seconds and enjoy the best online and TV experience in the capital city."

Sales of the ultra-fast broadband service have exceeded expectations and are the reason AT&T is expanding service to twice as many Austin households in 2014. AT&T U-verse brings together your broadband, TV, home phone and AT&T wireless services, with distinctive features that provide a new level of integration, convenience and control.

For additional information on AT&T U-verse with GigaPower %u2014 or to find out if it's available in your area %u2014 visit att.com/GigaPower.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

¹Internet speed claim(s) represent maximum network Service Capability speeds. Actual customer speeds may vary and are not guaranteed. Actual speeds vary based on factors including site traffic, content provider server capacity, internal network factors and device capabilities, and use of other U-verse services.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates %u2013 AT&T operating companies %u2013 are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and internationally. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's most reliable 4G LTE network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile Internet, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV service with the AT&T U-verse® brand. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world.

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at »about.att.com or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at »www.facebook.com/att and YouTube at »www.youtube.com/att.

© 2014 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Reliability claim based on data transfer completion rates on nationwide 4G LTE networks. 4G LTE availability varies.

Geographic and service restrictions apply to AT&T U-verse. Go to www.att.com/u-verse to see if you qualify.

Access to HD service requires $10/mo. A limited number of HD channels is not supported for display within My Multiview. Total Home DVR functionality is available on up to 8 TVs, and requires a receiver for each additional TV at $7/mo. U-verse App: Requires qualifying device, U-verse TV plan, and WiFi or data connection. Content may vary by device and/or TV plan and is subject to change. Data charges may apply.

- See more at: »about.att.com/story/att_ ··· Mvm.dpuf
coryw
join:2013-12-22
Flagstaff, AZ

coryw

Member

Re: On Campus Housing?

Thanks for quoting the entire press release. Interestingly, I'd actually read it first to see if I could find anything about whether or not "The Villas" was owned by U of T (in which case it's sort of weird that they're not on the campus LAN) or some sort of private entity that focuses on student housing.

The name of the complex alone doesn't really reveal anything to me. My campus has buildings with name like "High Rise Dormitory," as well as buildings named after people, and complexes with names like "Pine Ridge Village."

Maybe this was the point, but my apologies for not just having Googled it myself earlier: »www.villason26.com/

It's a privately owned apartment complex, so all AT&T is doing is announcing that a particular apartment complex will have access to this service.

I wonder what other options the students have or did before. Is this a guaranteed captive audience, any word on whether Google Fiber and the local cableco also wire up this building?

If it's not already, the 2.4GHz spectrum will be completely wrecked in that complex, especially given that they're not yet offering 802.11AC and AT&T does not support (and makes it difficult to set up) third party routers.

rolande
Certifiable
MVM,
join:2002-05-24
Dallas, TX
ARRIS BGW210-700
Cisco Meraki MR42

rolande

MVM,

AT&T has announced the specific markets and cities they are targeting first

quote:
Like most "fiber to the press release" deployments, AT&T is intentionally quite unspecific about what other neighborhoods or markets are set to see the faster U-Verse connections, or precisely how many "Gigapower" customers will ultimately be served.
I don't disagree that AT&T has been intentionally vague and misleading about their plans and timeline but they have announced the specific markets and cities they are targeting.

»about.att.com/story/att_ ··· ork.html

Whether or not those deployments will address existing neighborhoods with fiber builds only or actually start deploying fiber in the ground to replace existing copper in those markets and cities will remain to be seen.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz

Member

Re: AT&T has announced the specific markets and cities they are targeting first

A sign would be if they are laying fiber down every street in those markets. ATT (and TWC) has been laying fiber all over KC but only because Google came in and cut bureaucratic red tape to make it easier (for all ISPs). KC is one 'under consideration' and seems like ATT intends to deploy it.

Will be interesting to see how well the apparent 2.5G GPON architecture works in prime time.
DigitalPkrat
join:2003-12-20
85128

DigitalPkrat

Member

AT&T still loves their copper

AT&T has no desire to add fiber to most neighborhoods in Austin. Just a few days ago they sent a couple of reps door to door down my street to announce that fiber was available. They actually had me excited for a few seconds before they said it was just to the node. The quoted me up to 17mb/s which is a joke with TWC turning on 300mb/s in just a few days.

Come on AT&T, if you want to have a chance of competing start replacing all the copper with fiber and not just in select areas. I'll even leave you a standing offer of $2,000 to extend the fiber about 2,000' from the node to my house if you provide the same service and price for 300mb/s with the gigapower upgrade later on and no caps.