AT&T one-ups Google Fiber in Louisville (KY) with plans to install 1 Gbps service

AT&T may be challenging Louisville (KY)'s new utility pole access process, but it's not wasting time to bring its 1 Gbps fiber to the home (FTTH) service to parts of the city while holding up Google Fiber from gaining a foothold in the market. Despite AT&T's legal challenge over the pole access issue, the potential positive outcome is that some of Louisville's residential customers will be able to get a fiber-based broadband connection. Ted Smith, Louisville Metro's chief of civic innovation, said that "This will be an important milestone." Typical of its other GigaPower builds, AT&T according to a WDRB report is going to bring the service to two of the city's East End subdivisions.

The service provider will begin installing fiber underground along the city's rights-of-way. Joe Burgan, an AT&T spokesman, said AT&T contacted the homeowners associations of these subdivisions via a letter, but would not confirm if it has plans to bring the service to other Louisville neighborhoods or when services would be live. In a letter that was included in an e-mail to homeowner association presidents in each of the developments, AT&T said it would soon be "physically on the property" in the neighborhood -- including "some digging and the installation of pedestals and underground conduit" -- to install "a new state-of-the-art fiber to the home network."