AT&T Inc. will challenge Google Fiber by offering Austin residents the same ultra-fast Internet connection that the search giant plans to roll out in 2014.
AT&T announced Tuesday that it will deliver "gigabit" speeds to some Austin neighborhoods starting in December. That would put AT&T's fiber-optic broadband service on the ground before Google Fiber, which is scheduled to become available next year.
Gigabit speeds are 100 times faster than what is currently available through most broadband providers.
Google picked Austin earlier this year as only the second city in the country to be wired with Google Fiber.
AT&T has not yet announced pricing for its U-Verse with GigaPower plan. Google Fiber is currently only up and running in Kansas City, where residents pay $70 a month.
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