Pursuits
Google Gets Beaten to the Punch by AT&T on Super-Fast Broadband
- Fiber unit spurs rivals to lower rates, speed buildouts
- Tech giant needs consumers to have faster Internet to sell ads
detail of a spool of fiber optic cable.
Photographer: Ariana Lindquist/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Google Fiber has yet to bring its super-fast broadband service to the city of Atlanta. But Comcast Corp. and AT&T Inc. know it’s coming, and they’re offering the 1 gigabit Internet speed Google promised -- and signing up new customers.
It’s been six years since Google announced it would lay a fiber network to compete with cable providers and telephone companies. Although it’s now in only four markets, competitors are lowering rates and building faster lines to keep customers from defecting to the technology giant. Because Google needs consumers to have robust Internet speed in order to sell more expensive ads on its search engine, that may be what it had in mind all along.