When I saw the original press release earlier today, I thought the company name was a typo.
It's clear now that AT&T is making a political statement instead of announcing a premeditated expansion plan. Regardless, this seems like one of the worst possible ways to draw attention to purported "special incentives" that the city of Austin is granting Google. There is a large chance that AT&T won't come through on the plan at all--and when all this has blown over, AT&T is much more likely to be remembered for reneging on their plan than for being a proponent of fair regulatory laws.
It's clear now that AT&T is making a political statement instead of announcing a premeditated expansion plan. Regardless, this seems like one of the worst possible ways to draw attention to purported "special incentives" that the city of Austin is granting Google. There is a large chance that AT&T won't come through on the plan at all--and when all this has blown over, AT&T is much more likely to be remembered for reneging on their plan than for being a proponent of fair regulatory laws.