AT&T to Nearly Double GigaPower Internet Access in South Dallas

GigaPower is capable of Internet speeds up to one gigabit-per-second

Dallas-based AT&T is in the process of expanding access to its “ultra-fast” GigaPower Internet service in parts of southern Dallas.

GigaPower is capable of Internet speeds up to one gigabit-per-second, which can allow for dramatically decreased download times for large files.

Kiel Murray, of Dallas, is already the beneficiary of the service.

Murray, an information security consultant, does not live in the city’s southern sector; instead, Murray lives near the intersection of Mockingbird Lane and Greenville Avenue on the east side of US 75.

In addition to his work, which requires him to simultaneously connect to three networks from home, Murray takes online graduate courses from a major university which require him to download lectures.

“I would download these videos and it would take up to 30 minutes in order to download,” Murray said about his previous Internet service. “But in this case [with GigaPower] when I go to [download a lecture] and prepare for any of my trips, and I click ‘Videos Download’ button here, it downloads in about 10 seconds.”

Actually, the download process took approximately six seconds when Murray showed NBC DFW how it worked.

“You know, I’ve been doing this for three years with AT&T, and it still amazes me every time I see it,” said Jeremy Settle, Director of AT&T GigaPower Market Execution.

Settle told NBC DFW that AT&T has been investing in fiber service for 25 years, and that GigaPower is its biggest advancement to date.

“It’s at the speed of light. A laser is going down glass, and making bends and turns all throughout the city and the world to do that,” Settle said.

Settle emphasized that GigaPower is already available to about 10,000 customers in southern Dallas, and that AT&T plans to double that availability within one year.

That expansion cannot happen soon enough for Dale Smith.

“Absolutely, it’s essential to the essence of what we do,” said Smith, CEO of Black Contemporary Television, a 24/7 online television network.

Smith runs his network out of an office in Dallas’ Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center near Fair Park.

“We’re excited, obviously. We’re happy to hear that now this is going to be an option that we will be able to tap into,” Smith said. “The next thing that obviously comes to mind is when, where, how is the Martin Luther King Center going to benefit from it.”

During a recent visit, it took Smith’s computer more than two minutes just to load and begin to play a video from his own website.

“If you are, say, a web design business, or some kind of 21st Century app developer, or something like that, you’re not going to be interested [in setting up shop] down here because of the challenges to get high-speed Internet service,” Smith said.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings praised AT&T’s recent announcement about the GigaPower extension.

“The core message of GrowSouth is that Southern Dallas is not a charity case,” Rawlings said in a news release. “It is an investment opportunity.”

GrowSouth is a Dallas initiative to extend development, education and business opportunities into the city’s southern sector, an area long-overlooked for such investment.

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