By Jamie McGee

AT&T is considering bringing its high-speed fiber network – pitched as a competitor to Google Fiber – to Nashville.

The network would offer AT&T's U-verse service and GigaPower service, which provides broadband speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second, or 100 times fast than the standard broadband connection.

The announcement comes two months after Google Fiber announced it was considering expansion to Nashville and eight other metropolitan areas. Already, Google Fiber and AT&T's new services are preparing to go head-to-head in Austin, Texas.

Meanwhile, AT&T has also announced an expansion into Dallas and has begun discussion about expansion in the Raleigh-Durham area and Winston-Salem in North Carolina.

The company said it plans to work with local leaders in each of the prospective markets, including Nashville, and will pursue areas that demonstrate high demand and "receptive policies," according to a statement.

"We're interested in working with communities that appreciate the value of the most advanced technologies and are willing to encourage investment by offering solid investment cases and policies," Lori Lee, senior executive vice president of AT&T Home Solutions, said in the statement.

Nashville is among nearly two dozen cities under consideration for the expansion, including Atlanta, Charlotte and Kansas City. The expansion locally would include Clarksville, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Nashville, Smyrna and Spring Hill.

That is different than the Google Fiber expansion, which would initially be limited to Davidson County.While Google Fiber is months away from determining if it brings its network to Nashville, AT&T's announcement demonstrates how residents could benefit from the threat of increased competition.

In Kansas City, Kans. and Mo., and in Provo, Utah, where Google Fiber roll out is underway, other providers have also added to their offerings.

"To some extent this is what Google wanted all along with Google Fiber," said Jan Dawson, a tech analyst at Jackdaw Research in Provo, Utah. "They always said (they wanted) to spur incumbent operators to roll out their own fiber network... It's a validation of their whole strategy."

AT&T's GigaPower service is available to tens of thousands of Austin households, with expansion underway, and roll out for Dallas is expected to begin this summer, according to the company.

In North Carolina, AT&T is waiting for approval by city councils in the Research Triangle area. Its plan includes fiber deployment "where there is demand for ultra-fast broadband and sound policies for investment," according to the statement.

The emphasis on demand and city policies marks a shift in AT&T's roll-out strategy, as it places a larger burden on cities to help facilitate expansion, Dawson said. For example, a city government could help prompt expansion with tax breaks and permission to dig up roads or add new infrastructure.

As Google Fiber determines which cities it will expand to, city administrators are asked to complete a checklist pertaining to infrastructure access and permitting to ensure an efficient roll-out. In Nashville, Google Fiber has also asked for permission to build shed-like structures on government-owned properties that will house fiber devices.

Google Fiber has so far determined which neighborhoods it will connect to its network based on demand. If a large enough percentage of residents in an area commit to enrollment, the entire "fiberhood" gains access.

"As an incumbent carrier, AT&T has always had certain obligations to roll out most of its services pretty much in a blanket fashion," Dawson said. "(Fiber) is such a new thing and relevant to a few places, they can say, 'this is really special, if you want this you need to make an effort to get it.' … It's very much the approach that Google took right from the beginning but not an approach AT&T has used in the past."

Reach Jamie McGee at 615-259-8071 or on Twitter @JamieMcGee_.