Why AT&T says it can deny Google Fiber access to its poles in Austin(arstechnica.com)
arstechnica.com
Why AT&T says it can deny Google Fiber access to its poles in Austin
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/12/why-att-says-it-can-deny-google-fiber-access-to-its-poles-in-austin/
In their own words 'We don't want to become an ISP', 'we're simply doing it to shame current ISP's into acting'[0]
As AT&T are building their own networks, even if google do not get access to the poles, it means that they won.
Eventually, there would be a way around the pole problem (like in the UK where most ISP/Phone lines are buried), but for now, they're winning.
[0] - http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/01/google-fiber-sh...