Google and its “Google Fiber” projects are awakening executives at big network providers with the threat of broadband competition.

People in the Triangle are witnessing the same thing.

AT&T says it will build a network to rival Google’s in Austin, Texas – and it wants the same cooperation from governments.

Time Warner Cable has made a bid for the North Carolina Next Generation Network.

Isn’t competition wonderful?

This is good news for consumers and businesses.

But AT&T also sounded a warning: What’s good for Google should be good for us.

“Most encouraging is the recognition by government officials that policies which eliminate unnecessary regulation, lower costs and speed infrastructure deployment, can be a meaningful catalyst to additional investment in advanced networks which drives employment and economic growth,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO, in a statement.

The same statement likely will be made about NC NGN.

The backers of the NC NGN project were surprised by the eight responses they received to a “Request for Proposal” outlining goals of a Google Fiber-like network with 1 gigabit speeds as well as wireless access that would be built across the Triangle and parts of the Triad. Time Warner announced that it had made a formal proposal. As yet, no one else has come forward and NC NGN won’t identify the respondents.

But no one should be surprised if AT&T or perhaps even Google are among the respondents.

The establishment of Google Fiber in Kansas City with very competitive prices is stoking competition there for consumers and businesses.

Now, Google says Google Fiber is coming to tech hot-bed Austin.

AT&T Wants Same Deal

How AT&T responded to the announcement is very interesting.

Here’s the announcement in full:

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) said today that it is pleased to see local communities and municipalities acknowledging the promise and power of economic development associated with telecommunications investment.

“Most encouraging is the recognition by government officials that policies which eliminate unnecessary regulation, lower costs and speed infrastructure deployment, can be a meaningful catalyst to additional investment in advanced networks which drives employment and economic growth,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO.

Today, AT&T announced that in conjunction with its previously announced Project VIP expansion of broadband access, it is prepared to build an advanced fiber optic infrastructure in Austin, Texas, capable of delivering speeds up to 1 gigabit per second. AT&T’s expanded fiber plans in Austin anticipate it will be granted the same terms and conditions as Google on issues such as geographic scope of offerings, rights of way, permitting, state licenses and any investment incentives. This expanded investment is not expected to materially alter AT&T’s anticipated 2013 capital expenditures.

AT&T consistently invests in U.S. communities — $98 billion in capital in the past five years, more than any other public company — and remains committed to working with any metropolitan community to reach agreement on incentives to improve the climate and speed of overall telecommunications infrastructure investment – facilitating both wired and wireless broadband access. Our potential capital investment will depend on the extent we can reach satisfactory agreements.

Government Cooperation Promised in Triangle, Too

The NC NGN backers have offered significant “carrots” to providers as incentives to build the network. Among them: accelerated review processes, rights-of-way access, perhaps government contracts. And much more.

Providers such as AT&T and Time Warner face a maze of obstacles in building their own networks. So if government is going to help underwrite costs of a competitor, they want the same deal.

What’s fair for one should be fair for all, right?

And who would benefit?

Consumers and businesses who should gain more service options at better costs.

Plus, people in “underserved” areas might gain access broadband and/or better wireless years ahead of when they might have otherwise – if ever.

So NC NGN could mean big changes for the Triangle bandwidth market, just as Google Fiber is shaking up Kansas City and Chicago.

But one has to ask: If government impediments can be waived, weakened or streamlined in order to serve as “carrots” to encourage competition, should they exist in the first place?