As you've no doubt noticed, we recently rebranded our community effort to CharlotteHeartsGigabit (Twitter handle @CltHeartsGb). The original name was driven by our excitement over the February 19, 2014 announcement by Google Fiber that Charlotte was being considered for gigabit Internet deployment. Prior to that announcement we were not hearing much from the ISPs about improving the Charlotte infrastructure to gigabit speeds (with the possible exception of RST).
Thanks to Google Fiber leading the conversation, other ISPs have stepped up to announce their own Internet speed improvements. Most recently AT&T announced that Charlotte was selected for GigaPower, and TWC's announcement that they are bringing faster Internet to Charlotte. We applaud any ISP that commits to building a faster Internet infrastructure in Charlotte, and decided to change our name to reflect our support of gigabit in general.
This general support of gigabit does nothing to diminish our strong support and excitement for Google Fiber coming to Charlotte. We want Google Fiber! But we also want ISP competition at the gigabit level. Competition benefits the residents of Charlotte. Competition keeps prices down and service levels up. Competition means the residents of Charlotte will enjoy a better online experience. And competition in gigabit infrastructure will improve Charlotte's ability to attract talent, foster entrepreneurship, and drive innovation.
Gigabit infrastructure places Charlotte on the map as a leading edge city with huge potential. Our belief is a gigabit Internet infrastructure will do for Charlotte what highways did for cities in the 1950s, providing a competitive edge for economic development efforts.
Thank you AT&T, and thank you TWC. Google Fiber, we stand ready to thank you as well; come to Charlotte!