AT&T attempts to out-Google Google in Austin fiber race

The telco says it will begin offering its "GigaPower" service to Austin and surrounding areas this year, with further expansion and a 1-gigabit connection planned in 2014. But how much will it cost?

AT&T wants to get a leg up on Google Fiber.

The company said on late Monday that it would launch its "GigaPower" super-fast home Internet service on December 1 in Austin, a city that Google has said it would deploy its own speedy Google Fiber service.

GigaPower would start with speeds of 300 megabit per second, or roughly 40 times the speed of the average U.S. Internet home connection, before upgrading customers to 1 gigabit per second next year. Google also plans to offer its own 1-gigabit connection sometime next year.

By moving first with its offering, AT&T is attempting to quell the Google buzz and drum up a little hype for itself. The initial launch will cover tens of thousands of customers, and AT&T said it has plans to expand throughout Austin and its surrounding neighborhoods, although it will be selective about it.

"We are opening up the portal to understand the interest that customers have," said Lori Lee, a senior executive in AT&T's home solutions unit. "They will influence where we will expand initially."

AT&T was mum on price, likely reluctant to give away any market insights to competitors such as the cable providers. Lee would only say it would be a good value to customers.

It's unclear whether AT&T will try to match Google Fiber on price. In Kansas City, where Google Fiber is already available, Internet service costs $70 a month, while a bundle with TV costs $120 a month.

That flies in the face of the traditional telcos and cable providers, which charge excessive high rates for their fastest tiers of service. Verizon, for instance, charges $309.99 a month for a 500 megabit-per-second service as part of a double-play package that includes phone or TV service.