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Fiber news: AT&T installs fiber in Avondale, Comcast getting faster, Google tries phones

Avondale Estates Decatur Kirkwood and East Lake Metro ATL

Fiber news: AT&T installs fiber in Avondale, Comcast getting faster, Google tries phones

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Photo provided by Google

Photo provided by Google

Companies looking to bring faster internet to the Atlanta area are picking up the pace.

In Avondale Estates, AT&T is installing fiber optic cable along South Avondale Road between 7:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. through Feb. 12.

“They will restore and repair any holes that are dug along with, any grass or bushes that are disturbed during the installation process,” a notice from the city says. “AT&T has met extensively with the City to organize and plan for this installation in order to minimize impact and inconvenience to residents.”

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Crews broke a gas line on Monday morning, resulting in the brief closure of the road. There will also be a temporary lane closure on North Avondale Road on Feb. 9 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the intersection with Lake Street. The city says, “the eastbound and westbound right lanes on North Avondale Road will be closed. During that time, the eastbound and westbound left lanes will remain open. This closure is due to AT&T installing fiber optic cables under the roadway.”

Comcast recently announced plans to bring the “world’s first DOCSIS 3.1-powered gigabit Internet service” to residential customers the Atlanta and Nashville area in early 2016.

“The new network technology will, for the first time, make it possible for Xfinity and Comcast Business Internet customers to receive gigabit speeds over the communications lines that most customers already have in their homes and offices,” a press release from the company says.

It’s the latest announcement from Comcast regarding upgrades to its internet service. In July, the company announced that customers in its Blast! internet tier would see their speeds increase by 50 percent to 75 megabits per second. The company also began offering two new tiers of internet speed: Extreme 250 and Extreme 150 Mbps. In April, Comcast announced it will be bringing 2 Gig internet service to the Atlanta area, known as Gigabit Pro.

In the most recent press release, Comcast says, “Gigabit Pro is now available to 18 million homes across Comcast’s national footprint.”

Comcast did not have any pricing information for its DOCSIS 3.1-powered gigabit Internet service. A company spokesperson said, “We do not have pricing information that we can share just yet, but we do expect it to be competitive (and significantly less than the ‘Gigabit Pro’ 2-Gig service that is currently $159).”

The company’s website lists the price of Gigabit Pro as $299 per month.

The race for faster internet has been spurred in part by Google Fiber’s expansion into the Atlanta market and around the country. The company’s high speed internet is not yet available in the Atlanta area, but crews have begun installing the Google’s fiber network.

According to The Washington Post, Google Fiber is sending invitations to high speed customers to try out the company’s “experimental telephone service.” 

According to the Post, the service is called Google Fiber Phone, is similar to Google Voice and includes several of that product’s features. To see the full article, click here.

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