Telecommunications infrastructure

Austin provides a rich communications infrastructure that can carry enterprise information whether your firm has 20 employees or 20,000 employees. Whether your employees work at home, are on the road or at your premises, Austin provides a seamless communications network to ensure that your information reaches its destination across town or across the country.

True to Austin's reputation as a technology center, businesses can rely on sophisticated and reliable information technologies to maintain a competitive advantage. Over 1,000 technical professionals maintain a network spanning more than 130,000 miles of fiber in Austin's Silicon Hills.

Greater Austin enjoys one of the world's most advanced, robust, and redundant telecommunications networks. Unique characteristics include:

  • Multiple national and regional fiber backbone providers, protected by SONET rings and Ethernet network architecture, including digital access control, connecting all 23 central offices in Austin. Fiber is virtually universal in all routes to customers. Fiber optic connections are available to most major buildings and industrial sites.
  • Central offices are equipped with digital switches featuring the latest generic software, signaling system 7 control, and a full array of services throughout the metropolitan area, i.e., ISDN, frame relay, switched digital data, DSL, high band width, etc.
  • The newest digital-age services such as Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) and Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) capability which is used to prioritize Internet traffic for avoidance of congestion and failures.
  • Austin is home to AT&T Laboratories, the technology applications R&D arm of AT&T.
  • A large pool of telecommunications professionals, knowledge workers, and experienced data center and call center workers is available in the Greater Austin Area.
  • AT&T, CenturyLink, and Grande Communications are the primary providers in the Austin area. However, numerous competitive local exchange carriers also provide services in the area.