AT&T is about to get the same lease terms in San Antonio that Google got. On Thursday, the city council will look at a draft agreement that would give AT&T almost exactly the same access to city property to install fiber huts that it offered Google last month.
If you lay the Google fiber hut site master lease and the draft of the AT&T version alongside each other, they match word for word, except for the rental rates charged and a couple other minor details. The Google deal is a flat $2,250 per site, everywhere in the city. The rates for AT&T are more granular, varying according to the area of the city, in some cases lower than the Google price, in other cases higher. Doesn’t seem to be significant, likely more reflective of differences in the way the two companies do their budgets and construction plans than of the city’s attitude towards them.
Neither Google nor AT&T have committed to build or upgrade broadband infrastructure in San Antonio yet, though. The city is just one of 34 that Google is considering for its next round of fiber-to-the-home builds. And according to an interview AT&T’s staff lobbyist Renee Flores did with local radio station WOAI…
“We look forward to continuing our work with Mayor Castro on a master lease agreement which could facilitate AT&T’s continued expansion of our high speed internet in San Antonio,” Flores said.
Translation: we’re not promising a Uverse Gigapower upgrade or anything else of consequence in San Antonio. And no guarantees from AT&T elsewhere, except maybe to continue allowing Google to lead it around by the nose, finding cities that are ready to deal.