Bakersfield Broadband: 10Gbps Available Early 2027

AT&T Fiber and a coalition of local utilities will begin testing 10Gbps residential connections in Bakersfield by September 2026, with commercial availability slated for early 2027.

The upgrades arrive as downtown businesses and remote workers in Kern County push for upload speeds that current 1Gbps plans cannot sustain during peak afternoon hours. City planners have tied the timeline to the opening of new data-adjacent office space along 19th Street, where several software firms have signed leases this spring.

Neighborhood Rollouts and Local Partners

Initial pilot zones cover the Stockdale neighborhood and blocks surrounding the Kern River Parkway Trail near Oak Street. The Bakersfield College Technology Center on Panorama Drive will serve as the first institutional test site, connecting its new simulation labs to the higher-capacity backbone. A separate agreement with Golden State Water includes conduit sharing along California Avenue to reduce trenching costs for the fiber extensions.

City records show the project will add 47 miles of new conduit by December 2027, with half the route already permitted through the existing right-of-way along Highway 99.

Current Speeds and Pricing Benchmarks

AT&T’s present top residential tier delivers 5Gbps symmetrical service for $110 per month after promotional pricing ends. The upcoming 10Gbps product is listed at $140 per month in draft rate sheets filed with the city clerk last month. Average measured download speeds across central Bakersfield stood at 312 Mbps in the most recent FCC broadband map update covering the first quarter of 2026.

Residents can check eligibility for the pilot by entering an address on the city’s broadband portal before the end of July. Those outside the first zones should monitor the same site for quarterly expansion maps that will list exact street segments and estimated cutover dates.