Comcast, AT&T, and Google have announced plans to extend Gigabit Internet to Atlanta and surrounding areas, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Gigabit Internet is gaining popularity because of its advanced speeds and could affect technology, medical and financial markets, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
“Faster Internet connectivity is considered an economic development tool for cities hoping to attract fast-growing technology, financial and medical services companies that consume large amounts of data,” the Atlanta Business Chronicle states.
Companies in Smyrna, Roswell and parts of Alpharetta already have Comcast’s 10 Gigabits per second speed, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Soon this servie will spread to businesses in Norcross, Duluth and Atlanta, however the three companies involved have not yet revealed a price for services.
“Comcast’s fiber network will extend to several multi-tenant office buildings, such as the Atlanta Galleria Office Park,” the Atlanta Business Chronicle states.
Comcast also has plans for offering Gigabit speeds through existing cable networks and will begin to increase availability in late 2016, according The Wall Street Journal.
“Industry executives expect those upgrades to start next year, with wider deployment starting at the end of 2016,” The Wall Street Journal states.
Some Georgia State students responses were mixed about their interest in the university acquiring a Gigabit Internet service.
Student Idriece Malikyar said the move to faster Internet is a smart choice.
“Obviously I think it will help because the world is becoming more and more relying on Internet connectivity so I think that faster speeds are always good,” he said.
Biology major Fortune Chimaobi said Georgia State should wait before acquiring the new Internet speeds.
“If Georgia State were to upgrade to gigabit Internet it would drive costs up. And as expensive as college is nowadays: no,” Chimaobi said. “I think they should wait and see how popular gigabit speeds become and then when it becomes more efficient, more affordable and more reliable and when all that happens, then I would say we should ease into the transition of getting gigabit speeds.”
