AT&T & Google Batlle It Out In Louisville

AT&T & Google battling it out in Louisville over high speed gigabit Internet.

AT&T Inc., the renowned cellular network carrier has filed a lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Council as a reaction to the law which was passed recently. The law was known as “One Touch Make Ready” which enabled the companies to mobilize the equipment installed to the utility poles, so that they could establish theirs. Initially, only those who had installed the equipment could move it.

Earlier in September, Alphabet Inc., made an announcement that Louisville was among its lists of cities that would get access to high speed gigabit Internet. This would actually enable the city officials to make the installation process simpler. This law which now seems to be a warm welcome for Google Fiber, initially had to deal with a lot of criticism by wireless network carriers.

As per the new law passed, all those operators who are interested in installing fiber optic lines, need to get approval from the owner of the pole. Moreover, they also need to acknowledge those firms whose equipment is installed on it. This was done mostly in cases where disruption was reported. As per the lawsuit which was filed at the federal court, AT&T has made a claim that the city does not have the capacity to regulate the utility poles in the vicinity as per the state law. It was also claimed that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules are being violated like this. As per the provision, a notification is required before installation. All the utility poles were initially under the state body known as the Public Service Commission.

As per the company, they do not wish to create hindrances in the entry of search engine giant fast Internet service. However, the battle is against the government who is regulating the official platforms. It needs to be taken into consideration that AT&T is gearing up to launch its Internet service known as GigaPower this annum. As per the governmental bodies, AT&T is the owner of almost 20-40% poles in Louisville.

As per the local government, the legislation passed will ensure that the disturbance in the region gets minimized while the broadband providers come up with their fiber optic service in the city.

As per a tweet by Mayor Greg Fischer: “We will vigorously defend the lawsuit filed today by ATT; gigabit fiber is too important to our city's future @googlefiber”.

In a recent blog post, Chris Levendos, the Director of the National Deployment and Operations, has registered his wrath against the lawsuit filed. He has also talked about his solidarity with the inhabitants of Louisville and is of the belief that the recent initiatives will result in immense competition in the industry. It is also assumed that the pace for installing fiber optic cables will get better gradually. Moreover, attention will be laid on the safety of locals and workers.