Updated
After a service provider announces plans for gigabit service for a city, it usually doesn’t take long before another service provider announces plans for ultra-high-speed service, in some cases pre-empting the first announced company by launching service first. An example of this phenomenon came late last week from Durham, N.C., where Frontier has launched gigabit service just a few months after AT&T announced plans to bring gigabit service to the area.
Most major markets have at least two broadband providers – the local telco and the local cableco – and in some cases there is a third or fourth provider in the market. And when any one of those providers – or a new market entrant such as Google — announces gigabit plans, the other providers, fearing huge customer losses, often feel they have no choice but to upgrade as well.
Frontier Gigabit Service
“Frontier’s vast fiber network already plays a critical role in this community, offering speeds up to 25 Mbps to more than 70% of households we serve in Durham,” said Frontier CEO Maggie Wilderotter in a Frontier press release about the service launch. “We are leveraging that robust network to offer blazing fast speeds up to 1 Gig.”
Specific areas of Durham where Frontier has launched service include Carolina Arbors, American Tobacco Campus, Durham City Center, Research Triangle Park – Park Center Development, One Park Center, and Jordan at Southpoint.
Frontier previously announced gigabit plans last year when it said it would bring gigabit service to Carbondale, Ill. That announcement was a bit different from some other gigabit launches, however, in that the project is funded, in part, by a $1.5 million grant from the Illinois Gigabit Communities Challenge and Frontier has several partners for that project, including the City of Carbondale, Southern Illinois University and Connect SI.
UPDATE: Frontier said today that it also offering gigabit service in Beaverton, Oregon, near Portland.
