Photo: Flickr – Subrat Pattnaik
Recent news from Overland Park, Kansas, points to Kansas City becoming an even more connected region.
Yesterday, the Kansas City Business Journal reported that on Monday, August 4, the Overland Park City Council unanimously voted to approve AT&T to bring its 1 Gbps GigaPower network to the KC suburb. No word yet on when the service will be deployed, but the Business Journal notes that it only took AT&T eight months from the time of its announcement to set up GigaPower in Austin.
This news comes just three weeks after Overland Park voted to allow Google Fiber to extend to the area. With gigabit speeds comparable to Google, the Business Journal predicts a “fiber-optic feud” between the two carriers.
Many in the area are looking forward to the competitive climate, as it gives consumers a choice.
KCnext President Ryan Weber stresses that having a choice between gigabit providers is a boon to economic development, especially among tech companies considering relocation to Kansas City.
“[Tech companies] want to make sure there are a number of carriers,” Weber told the Business Journal, “because for some tech companies, they have two carriers coming into their office.”
Attracting new tech companies to Kansas City was a high civic priority according to the attendees of the recent KC Region Gigabit City Summit organized by KC Digital Drive.
With Johnson County back in line for Google Fiber and AT&T’s GigaPower potentially expanding from OP to other areas of the metro, we’re thinking Kansas City will be hard for tech companies not to consider.