It looks like Google's attempt to shame broadband providers into offering faster internet services is starting to work.

Earlier this year, Google announced that Austin, Texas would be the second city to receive its ultra-fast Google Fiber service, and AT&T isn't far behind. It quickly followed Google's announcement with news that it too would offer gigabit fiber internet in the city, and today, the telecoms giant detailed what the service will look like.

Starting in December, some Austin residents will be able to order the company's AT&T U-verse with GigaPowerSM. At first, the service will provide only 300 Mbps speeds, but the company promises an upgrade to a full 1 gigabit connection in the middle of next year.

Pricing for the new offering hasn't been announced, but it will also include television service. Google hasn't begun rolling out Fiber in Austin, and it hasn't announced pricing there either. Google charges $70 a month for its gigabit internet connection alone and $120 a month for its internet plus television package. It also offers a "free" 300 mbps internet service for a one-time construction fee of $300.

AT&T hasn't yet announced which neighborhoods will receive GigaPowerSM. Residents who want the service can vote for their neighborhood on a website. But broadband industry watcher Karl Bode cautioned readers of his DSL Reports website not to put too much faith in AT&T's voting mechanism. "AT&T's effectively doing what they've already been doing for some time in focusing upgrade energy on more exclusive development communities," he wrote in a post today.

Bode also points out that incumbent telcos like Verizon and AT&T have been focusing more on lucrative wireless services than on fixed line services in recent years. Verizon, for example, stopped expanding its fiber internet offering FiOS last year.

Cable providers haven't been much better. Comcast has been slow to roll out its $299.95 per month 305 mbps Xfinity Platinum service. And of course, the chief financial officer of Time Warner Cable denied customers were even interested in gigabit internet earlier this year.

But Google Fiber might be forcing incumbents to rethink their approach. For example, Time Warner Cable announced a new wireless service in Austin after the Google Fiber announcement, and CenturyLink announced a gigabit fiber service in Omaha, Nebraska not long after Google announced it would take over Provo, Utaha's fiber internet provider. Smaller broadband providers, such as the Lawrence, Kansas-based Wicked Broadband, have also stepped up their offerings in anticipation of competition from Google.