AT&T takes race to 1 Gigabit Internet to Austin, Texas

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- AT&T said Tuesday it will take Google up on the challenge to provide Austin, Texas, with the fastest possible Internet speeds.

Google, which made Google Fiber available in Kansas City, Mo., in July 2012, has been announcing its intention to expand its high-speed options. Provo, Utah, and Austin are on Google's short list of cities it intends to offer Google Fiber, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

AT&T said, in effect, it is ready to go head to head with Google in the capital of the Lone Star State.

Google has offered to provide Google Fiber in Austin by mid-2014. AT&T countered with an offer to provide 300 Mbps speeds in December and 1 Gigabit per second speeds next year.

"Austin, get ready to binge watch television and download shows in seconds, wipe out your online gaming opponents before they see you coming, and communicate with business associates through a high quality video conference call," AT&T said in a statement.

AT&T said it will ramp Austin up to a 1 Gigabit per second system with a "100 percent fiber Internet broadband network" that would "initially reach tens of thousands of customer locations ... this year, with additional local expansion planned in 2014."

AT&T, however, said the system would "initially feature symmetrical speeds of up to 300 Mbps," in December and ramp up to 1 Gigabit per second speeds in mid-2014.

At 1 Gigabit per second, "you'll be able to download an HD movie in less than two minutes," AT&T said.