AT&T Inc.’s share price down, plans to offer ultra-fast Internet service in North Carolina in competition with Google Inc.

AT&T Inc. made an official statement today, revealing that it is in advanced process of negotiations over offering the so-called U-verse GigaPower fibre-optic service, which is considered to be the fastest Internet service so far with a speed of up to one gigabit per second.

The company has decided to launch the service in six cities in North Carolina, challenging its biggest rivals – Google Inc. and Time Warner Cable Inc. – in an attempt to expand its reach in the region. AT&Ts plans also come as a quick response to Googles announcement, which revealed in February this year that it is considering North Carolina as a place for expansion of its fibre network business. This once again opens the fierce competition between the companies battling each other for dominance in the business of providing ultra-fast Internet service.

Lori Lee, who is the chief of the U-verse division of the company said in the statement, cited by Bloomberg: “We are excited to bring some of the fastest Internet to North Carolina. We had a great experience in Austin, it has exceeded our expectations.”

AT&T Inc. explained that the new services release needs to get the approval of the local authorities. It also became clear that the company plans to initially offer the U-verse GigaPower fibre-optic Internet service to about 3 000 residential clients, 100 business customers and 100 public sites in the region.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Randall Stephenson, the Chief Executive Officer of AT&T Inc., revealed in March 2014 that the results achieved by the company in Austin in combination with an eventual merger between Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable, has caused AT&T to be “a little more aggressive and assertive in deploying that technology around the country.” Mr. Stephenson also said: “The cost dynamics of this deployment have been really, really encouraging.”

According to Financial Times, shares of AT&T Inc. lost 0.99% to close at 34.92 USD on the NYSE yesterday, while companys one-year return rate was -8.54%. According to data published by CNN Money, the 24 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for AT&T Inc. have a median target of 35.00, with a high estimate of 42.00 and a low estimate of 25.00. The median estimate represents a +0.23% increase from the last price of 34.92.