AT&T Believes Economics of Gigabit Access Networks Increasingly "Look Good"

AT&T has said it will build 1-Gbps access networks in Austin, Texas, though some would say the specifics are lacking. That will  not surprise too many observers who follow the ISP business closely. 

No incumbent with a decent business selling access at about $3 to $5 per Mbps would be foollish to prematurely risk dropping those prices in a major way. 

And though many will criticize the language as not serious, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson now says about gigabit access networks, at least in some cases, that "the cost dynamics look good, the revenue implications look good, the market implications look good, so you're going to see more of this over time and I fully expect you'll see us doing markets like this over the next few years."

Skeptics will say AT&T simply isn't serious. Optimists might be encouraged that revenue and cost implications are being looked at it a serious way, and that AT&T recognizes it has to look seriously at whether upgrades of more networks to gigabit speeds are feasible.