Google Fiber is still something that most of America is waiting for as incumbent ISPs are kicking and dragging their feet into the world of faster wired broadband. There are exceptions, however, and Gigabit Squared is bringing one of those exceptions to Seattle.
You may recall last year that Gigabit Squared and the University of Washington joined forces to bring gigabit Internet to Seattle. The fiber network is almost complete and Gigabit Seattle will begin offering Internet to city residents in various plans ranging from free to $80 a month next year.
The first plan – referred to as Plan A – is similar to Google’s own free Internet offering. Consumers who sign up for this option will get 5 Mbps down/1 Mbps up for free for the first 60 months. Those consumers can then upgrade to a 10 Mbps down/10 Mbps up connection after 60 months for $10 a month. It should also be noted that the free option requires a $350 installation fee that’s only marginally more expensive than Google’s own $300 installation fee.
What sets Gigabit Seattle apart from Google Fiber is that it offers a mid-tier option. Plan B offers 100 Mbps down/100 Mbps up for only $45 a month. There will be no installation change if the customer signs a one-year contract.
As for Google Fiber-like gigabit speeds, Plan C offers 1 Gbps up/1 Gbps down for $80 a month. Once again, there’s no installation charge with a one-year contract.
So, Gigabit Seattle is only going to charge $10 more than Google Fiber for gigabit speeds. It’s still a steal compared to what the rest of the nation is paying for much slower connection speeds. Hell, Seattle residents can get faster speeds than the average national speed for only $45 a month.
Lucky Seattle residents will be able to sign up for their preferred plan in the near future. The actual installations won’t take place until next year though.
[h/t: Ars Technica]