CenturyLink is rolling out its laser-quick Internet throughout Seattle.
Announced back in August, CenturyLink’s gigabit service is now available to nearly 22,000 customers in the Ballard neighborhood and into West Seattle. Almost 5,000 office buildings also now have access to the gigabit Internet.
CenturyLink will extend the service to residents and businesses in the Central District and Beacon Hill neighborhoods early next year. The company will offer gigabit Internet to other areas based on demand.
The high-speed service costs $79.95 per month, but only when bundled with additional, qualifying CenturyLink services like a home phone or TV subscription. Most bundles will cost a minimum of $115 per month.
In Seattle, CenturyLink currently offers up to 40 Mbps for $29.95 per month. Meanwhile, Comcast offers 50 Mbps for $77.95 per month and 105 Mbps for $114.95 per month, both without bundle packages.
Residents, but not businesses, will be able to use gigabit speeds without any data caps. According to CenturyLink’s excessive use policy, there are no download limits for residential 1 Gbps customers.
The company’s fiber offering comes about a year after plans to bring gigabit Internet to thousands of Seattle residents crumbled after Cincinnati-based Gigabit Squared failed to raise enough money to implement a planned high-speed Internet network in 14 Seattle neighborhoods using the city’s dormant “dark fiber” network. Gigabit, which is now being sued by the City of Seattle for an unpaid bill, planned to offer 1 Gbps for $80 per month.
CenturyLink is rolling out gigabit services to 12 other cities in the U.S., including Portland.
Last month, CondoInternet, a subsidiary of Wave Broadband, announced that it will offer fiber Internet service to residents in Eastlake starting in December for $60-to-$80 per month.
