AT&T (NYSE: T) is continuing its U-verse buildout in Kansas City, and it's found a way to help subsidize the cost: Google (Nasdaq: GOOG). The search giant has agreed to pay the telco for each pole it hangs its new 1-gigabit fiber on in Kansas and Missouri.
Neither company would comment of the details of the deal, but it's a win-win that helps Google move forward on building its high-speed network and gives AT&T some extra cash--and maybe some access or a new partner down the line?
Google already has a deal with one local government. It is paying $10 for each pole it uses to the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan.
AT&T, meanwhile, said its IPTV service is now available to more than 400,000 homes in the Kansas City area after its latest expansion.
U-verse launched service there in 2007, and the telco said it has tripled the amount of households it offers the service to since 2008, passing about 45 percent of the market. In addition to Google, AT&T also faces service compatition from Time Warner Cable and to a lesser extent SureWest in the K.C. area.
For more:
- see this Kansas City Business Journal article
- see this release from AT&T
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AT&T adds 208,000 U-verse subs, sees strong sales in 4Q
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Rumor: SureWest may be a Google acquisition target
Rumor mill: Google plans pay-TV service test in Kansas City