AT&T brings fiber to Wilmington, rebrands GigaPower

AT&T is adding 11 more metros to its fiber network, including Wilmington. It’s also tossing the GigaPower brand in favor of a new name: AT&T Fiber.

For example, the GagaPower (1 gigabit Internet service) will now be called AT&T Internet 1000.

The 11 additions promised by year’s end will boost AT&T’s metro footprint to 45. Currently, AT&T offers fiber in parts of 29 different metros, including the Triangle.

AT&T keeps expanding the network as competition with Google Fiber and other providers intensifies.

Recently, AT&T also announced an experiment in wireless broadband delivery over powerlines, the so-called AirGig project. Google Fiber is developing its own wireless strategy.

In North Carolina, the communications giant is tying in parts of the Triangle along with Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Charlotte.

“Customer demand for high-speed connectivity is exceeding even our high expectations,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer of the AT&T Entertainment Group, in a statement.

“Today we’re also introducing the AT&T Fiber umbrella brand, which lets us bring ultra-fast internet to even more residential and business customers through a mix of the latest network technologies.”

The name change specifically applying to GigaPower was noted near the bottom of a press release about the latest expansion:

“AT&T Fiber gives customers the power to choose from a wide range of internet speeds, like AT&T Internet 1000 (replacing AT&T GigaPower).”

Plus, there is a hint of more fiber news to come:

“This new brand includes, but is not limited to, the former AT&T GigaPower network. We will announce additional network technologies and products in our AT&T Fiber umbrella brand in the near future.”

AT&T says it now reaches “over 3 million locations” with ultra-fast service and is “on track to exceed 12.5 million locations” by the middle of 2019.

Other new markets include: