If you have been downloading AAA games over the last several years, you’ve probably noticed how enormous file sizes have been getting, and depending on where you live, AT&T may have a solution to make your life a whole lot easier. More than 70 metropolitan areas are getting access to 2 Gbps and 5Gbps internet speed tiers, which are both light years ahead of what most people use in the US today.
The rollout, which AT&T says is available to more than 5 million potential customers today, is planned to continue until 30 million customers have access by the end of 2025. It’ll cost $110 per month for the 2 Gbps tier or $180 for the 5 Gbps tier, with no data caps, contracts, equipment fees, or price increases after a year. In the future, it sounds like a 10 Gbps tier will even be available, as it has been achieved in the company’s “labs,” which may also contain green goo of indeterminate origin.
So, just how fast are the new speeds in practice? Assuming you are getting the absolute highest speeds offered by each plan–which likely means using an ethernet connection–2 Gbps speed will complete a 100 GB download in about seven minutes. 5 Gbps, meanwhile, will accomplish the same feat in about three minutes. Both tiers include Wi-Fi devices capable of utilizing the speeds, as well as free HBO Max access.
Despite being a global superpower, the United States trails many other countries in average internet speed. According to Speedtest, the country is eight in fixed broadband connection speeds, trailing countries like China, Denmark, Thailand, and Singapore. Data caps are also a problem in many areas, particularly those without competing ISPs to drive prices down, and this could limit the widespread adoption of cloud streaming services unless a company like AT&T makes a significantly bigger expansion.
