AT&T to Install Gigabit Internet Network in Cupertino, Calif.

 AT&T will bring its GigaPower all-fiber network service to Apple’s hometown, Cupertino officials and the company announced at a press conference Wednesday morning.

 
Cupertino is the first city in California and west of the Rockies announced to receive the ultra-fast network, which advertises download and upload speeds of 300 megabytes per second (approximately 1 gigabit).
 
“Cupertino is a community of innovators from around the world,” said Vice Mayor Rod Sinks. “We need great connectivity to compete globally. Since the very first discussion of this project less than four months ago, both Cupertino and AT&T have made the project a high priority. We look forward to rapid deployment of this service.”
 
Cupertino is home to Apple, Inc., Seagate Technology, SugarCRM and several more tech companies. The city of 58,000 also is one of the wealthiest in the U.S., with a median household income of above $150,000 and average home values approaching $1 million.
 
Analysts say with Wednesday’s announcement AT&T looks poised to challenge Comcast, which holds the lion’s share of the Bay Area broadband market.
 
Ken McNeely, president of AT&T California, wrote in an online piece posted Wednesday that he’s “thrilled” the gigabit service is coming and “there’s no better place to start than the heart of Silicon Valley.”
 
“California has always been a place where innovation flourishes, where we show the rest of the country and the world what’s possible. That doesn’t happen by accident,” McNeely wrote.
 
McNeely also mentioned AT&T is looking at 25 other metro areas across the country to build the new fiber network. The company’s faster broadband service debuted in Austin, Texas, late last year.
 
This story was originally published by TechWire.