Potential Google Fiber customers began signing up for the service in late 2014, the same time the high-speed Internet service provider debuted a new downtown showroom. Residents in five South Austin fiberhoods—neighborhood clusters eligible for Google Fiber—can sign up to receive the 1-gigabit-per-second Internet service. The first signup deadline occurs Jan. 29 in the Bluebonnet fiberhood, which includes the Barton Hills, Zilker and South Lamar neighborhoods. Potential customers in the Lady Bird Lake fiberhood, which includes the Barton Hills and Travis Heights neighborhoods, have until March 12 to sign up. Customer interest so far has been strong, said Mark Strama, head of Austin's Google Fiber operation, with nearly all eligible fiberhoods meeting their minimum threshold for signups. Once a signup deadline has passed and signup goals have been met, installations begin soon after in that area, he said, although there is no exact timeline for when customers receive service. "The reception to the product launch has been great," Strama said. "And we know a lot of people in the city cant sign up yet, but they've shown a strong sense of anticipation." Austin residents north of Lady Bird Lake who are not currently eligible for Google Fiber service can visit the companys downtown showroom in the former Austin Childrens Museum building to test the high speeds and Google TV service. Other providers increase speeds Existing service providers also received favorable customer reactions to speed upgrades implemented in anticipation of the Google Fiber launch. Pockets of Central Austin already have access to AT&T GigaPower service, which launched in late 2013. By late last summer, all GigaPower customers were upgraded to 1-gigabit-per-second service, said Eric Boyer, AT&T U-Verse senior vice president. "Our footprint has some overlap with Google Fiber, so we're certainly anxious to see how customers respond," Boyer said. More neighborhoods will gain access to GigaPower in 2015, Boyer said, although he could not yet announce where. In addition the AT&T Center for Innovation, a downtown Austin working space connected to GigaPower services, will open in the first half of 2015, Boyer said. Grande Communications, the first provider of gigabit-level speeds in Austin, expanded in November to include parts of West Campus, said Matt Rohre, general manager and senior vice president of operations, with more expansion anticipated in 2015. Rohre said last year confirmed there is demand for these speeds, which are still being fully utilized through new technologies and other applications. "People are making the shift to consume content however and whenever they want to," Rohre said. Longtime Austin service provider Time Warner Cable opted not to pursue 1 gigabit speeds and instead upgraded its six existing Internet packages. The fastest service is 300 megabits per second, spokeswoman Melissa Sorola said, and last fall Austin become TWCs third MAXX market, a digital-only initiative that enhances video and Internet quality.