Industry Analyst Jeff Kagan: Google, AT&T, CenturyLink and C Spire Fiberhood Idea Growing
Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) August 24, 2014 -- Fiberhood is what we now call a new approach by a growing number of Internet service providers. They choose where to bring this ultra high-speed one gigabit Internet service based on their competitive evaluations and not government mandates, according to the Wall Street Journal, Aug 22.
Industry analyst Jeff Kagan offers comment.
“This is a brilliant idea that seems to be transforming the industry sector and creating so many new opportunities for service providers, cities that are selected, and customers who get access to this fast service,” says technology analyst Kagan.
“Only a very few competitors have entered this space to date, and the future looks very bright for them if they do this correctly,” says tech analyst Kagan.
“The two leaders in this competitive space are AT&T and Google. They are both rolling out their ultra-high speed service in a widening variety of cities from coast to coast. I would say Google was first, but at this point AT&T really seems to be the leader with their rapidly growing list of cities,” says wireless analyst Kagan.
“How fast of an Internet connection do customers really need? Good question. There are different slices of the customer pie. Only a very few actually need this kind of speed today. Today speeds offered by traditional Internet service providers are fine for the vast majority of customers. However as the next few years go by we will need more speed," says telecom analyst Kagan.
“So today the average customer doesn’t need this kind of speed, but tomorrow they will. Need is not the only reason companies enter this space. Another reason is customer demand. Even though customers don’t need this kind of speed, just the thought of it creates a kind of demand. And no carrier wants to lose customers and be left behind. So that’s why we are seeing a number of carriers move in this direction,” says industry analyst Kagan.
Google and AT&T are both heading in the same direction, offering high speed services to as many cities as they can and quickly as they can.
CenturyLink is not as aggressive, although they have entered this space. I think we will see them pick up the pace in order to remain relevant.
C Spire is taking a different route. They are focused on the state of Mississippi. C Spire is a wireless company who is entering the high speed Internet race. They are going to offer ultra high speed Internet service to a number of cities in Mississippi.
They are not expanding beyond Mississippi, but could be successful because I don’t see other vendors entering Mississippi to compete yet.
It will be interesting to see how well C Spire can hold on to these customers when larger, national competitors start to move into town in the next few years. Stay tuned.
What’s surprising and even disappointing is we have not heard from Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox or others yet. However there is still plenty of time.
“Verizon is not a player in this space, and in fact has really not expanded their FiOS initiative in a long time. Will this opportunity change that? Perhaps. In fact I hope so, but not yet,” says Kagan.
“This gigabit Internet service could grow into a competitive threat to traditional telephone and cable television services in coming years as well,” says Kagan.
“We are still just in the first inning of this new ball game. So expect more action. I do,” says Kagan.
About Jeff Kagan
Jeff Kagan is an industry analyst, consultant, columnist, author, speaker and futurist. He shares his opinion in many ways over 25 years. Helping to understand our changing world, technology, industry and competition.
He is regularly quoted by the media. He offers comment to reporters and journalists on wireless, telecom, Internet, cable television, IPTV and other tech news stories.
Kagan is known as a technology analyst, tech analyst, wireless analyst, smartphone analyst, telecom analyst, telecom industry analyst and principal analyst.
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Full Disclosure: Jeff Kagan is an independent industry analyst. He offers comment to the media on breaking news, announcements, technologies and the changing marketplace. He also writes columns and press releases offering comment, and is an author and speaker. He also works on a consulting basis sharing his opinion.
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Jeff KAGAN, Jeff Kagan, Tech Analyst, Industry Analyst, http://www.jeffKAGAN.com, +1 770-579-5810, [email protected]
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