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Tag: Google Fiber

  • Google Fiber Resumes Expansion After Nearly Six Years

    Google Fiber Resumes Expansion After Nearly Six Years

    Google is once again expanding its Google Fiber internet service nearly six years after pausing additional rollouts.

    Google Fiber is the company’s high-speed internet access aimed at home users and small businesses. The company halted further expansion in October 2016, but is now resuming rollouts.

    The decision is being driven by the increased importance of accessible high-speed internet, especially at a time when remote and hybrid work are becoming the new normal.

    “At no time in Google Fiber’s history has that ever been more important than today,” writes Dinni Jain, Google Fiber CEO. “We’re living in a world that has finally caught up to the idea that high-speed, reliable internet — at gigabit speeds — is no longer a bold idea or a ‘nice to have.’ The experience of the last couple of years has certainly taught us that.”

    Google is in talks with leaders in the following five states:

    • Arizona, starting in Mesa as announced in July
    • Colorado
    • Nebraska
    • Nevada
    • Idaho

    The company says these states will be its main focus for the next several years, along with continued growth in its existing metro markets.

    “We’re thrilled to be expanding our geographic reach once again — bringing better internet to more people in more places,” adds Jain. “Stay tuned in the coming months as we fill in this picture with more details about our new cities, even faster speeds and redefined customer service.”

  • Philo Now An Option For Google Fiber Users

    Philo Now An Option For Google Fiber Users

    Google Fiber has been going all-in on streaming services, offing them exclusively as part of its bundled options, with Philo joining the mix.

    Many internet providers offer TV packages as part of a bundle deal, and Google Fiber is no different. Originally it offered traditional Tv service before changing gears and offering streaming services exclusively, as part of its bundles.

    YouTube TV and fuboTV were the two streaming services Google offered initially, but now the company is offering Philo as well. Unlike YouTube TV, fuboTV, Sling and others, Philo does not try to be a full cable replacement, with local channels and sports. Instead, it offers a lineup of 60 channels, primarily geared around entertainment. It includes channels like A&E, AMC, BBC, BET, Comedy Central, HGTV, History Channel, IFC, Paramount Network and more.

    “We’re continuing to work to make it easier to find the TV and video content you want with more streaming choices available for our internet customers,” writes Liz Hsu, Director, Product Strategy. “We’re thrilled to welcome Philo as a new streaming partner. Philo offers over 60 channels of live and on-demand TV for just $20 a month, providing yet another affordable way to watch your favorite shows. Philo joins YouTube TV and fuboTV as one of our streaming offerings, and we’re working to make it even easier to get the streaming options our customers want.”

    This should be a big boost to Philo, helping it compete with its bigger rivals.

  • Google Cuts Fiber and Division Head Resigns

    Google Cuts Fiber and Division Head Resigns

    Google is cutting its losses with its high speed internet service to restrategize and reduce expenses. It will continue serving its current fiber cities and will complete the buildout of its fiber service where construction has already begun, but it will close offices and end all future fiber plans.

    With this announcement, the head of Google’s fiber division, Craig Barratt, announced his resignation. “As for me personally, it’s been quite a journey over the past few years, taking a broad-based set of projects and initiatives and growing a focused business that is on a strong trajectory. And I’ve decided this is the right juncture to step aside from my CEO role. Larry has asked me to continue as an advisor, so I’ll still be around.”

    Google currently has fiber in 9 locations; Kansas City MO, Kansas City, KS, Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Nashville, Provo, Salt Lake City and The Triangle area of North Carolina. They list 4 cities as upcoming; Huntsville, AL, Irvine, CA, Louisville, and San Antonio. It’s likely that none of these cities will see their Google fiber dreams fulfilled.

    Another big disappointment is in store for cities that were listed as potential fiber cities by Google including Tampa, Jacksonville, Chicago, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Jose and probably Louisville. Google plans to close offices in all of these cities and layoff personnel.

    “In terms of our existing footprint, in the cities where we’ve launched or are under construction, our work will continue,” said Barratt. “For most of our potential Fiber cities — those where we’ve been in exploratory discussions — we’re going to pause our operations and offices while we refine our approaches. We’re ever grateful to these cities for their ongoing partnership and patience, and we’re confident we’ll have an opportunity to resume our partnership discussions once we’ve advanced our technologies and solutions.”

    Barratt added that they will be reducing their employee base in cities that are in an “exploratory stage.”

  • Google In Deal With U.S. Cellular For More ‘Project Fi’ Speed And Coverage

    Google In Deal With U.S. Cellular For More ‘Project Fi’ Speed And Coverage

    Google has partnered with U.S. Cellular to increase both speed and coverage area of Project Fi. Project Fi is Google’s to program to deliver a fast, easy wireless experience by forming close partnership with leading carriers, hardware makers, and subscribers.

    Google’s Android Blog described the benefits of Project Fi expansion…

    How does this work?

    In most areas, multiple cellular networks are available — in fact, the majority of Project Fi usage occurs in areas where more than one of our partners offers LTE coverage. But factors like obstructions from nearby buildings can meaningfully impact the speed and coverage available from each LTE connection. By analyzing speeds from each network, Project Fi is able to predict the fastest network at your location — down to the city block — and automatically connect you. We’re constantly adapting to consider how factors like new cell towers and newly-available radio frequencies are impacting real-world speeds.

    Part of Project Fi’s promise is to ensure you have connection when you need it, even in areas with poor speeds or limited coverage. Your Fi device recognizes when your connection is weak and adjusts in real time. By accessing multiple cellular networks, Fi users have a connection nearly 99% of the time, and spend about 95% of cellular time on LTE — which will improve even further with the addition of U.S. Cellular.

    Learn more about Project Fi from the videos below:

  • Google Fiber Phone Announced For Home Phone Service

    Google just announced Fiber Phone, a new service for home phones using Google Fiber. It costs ten dollars a month for unlimited local and nationwide calling, and uses the same rates as Google Voice for international calls.

    Customers can keep their old phone numbers or get new ones. The service includes call waiting, caller ID, and 911. It also offers voice message transcribing for texts and email. There are also privacy controls like spam filtering, call screening, and do-not-disturb.

    “Whether it’s calling mom or ordering take-out, we rely on our phones to help reach the people and things that matter,” says Google Fiber product manager John Shriver-Blake. “And while mobile phones have pushed us toward the future, home phone service is still important to many families. Landlines can be familiar, reliable and provide high-quality service, but the technology hasn’t always kept up. That’s why today, we’re introducing Fiber Phone as a new option to help you stay connected wherever you are.”

    “Fiber Phone can help you make the most of your home phone—even when you’re not at home,” he says. “Adding Fiber Phone means getting access on the road, in the office, or wherever you are. Your Fiber Phone number lives in the cloud, which means that you can use it on almost any phone, tablet or laptop. It can ring your landline when you’re home, or your mobile device when you’re on-the-go.”

    Eventually, Fiber Phone will be available to customers in all Fiber cities, but for now, it will only be in a few areas. There’s a sign-up form here for when it makes it to your area.

    It’s unclear at this point what the first areas with access will be. Current Fiber cities include Provo, Austin, Kansas City, and Atlanta with service upcoming for San Francisco, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Nashville, Huntsville, Charlotte, and Raleigh-Durham. The following are listed as potential Fiber cities: Portland, San Jose, Los Angeles, Irvine, San Diego, Phoenix, Oklahoma City, Chicago, Louisville, Tampa, and Jacksonville.

    google-fiber-cities

    Image via Google

  • Internet Service: Google Fiber To Serve San Francisco Apartments, Condos

    Google announced this week that its Google Fiber high-speed Internet service will soon be available in San Francisco apartments and condos.

    “Nearly six years ago, we started Google Fiber with the goal of making the web better and faster for everyone,” said Michael Slinger, Director of Business Operations for Google Fiber. “We began in Kansas City and have now committed to bring Fiber to a total of ten metropolitan areas. To date, we’ve focused mostly on building fiber-optic networks from scratch. Now, as Google Fiber grows, we’re looking for more ways to serve cities of different shapes and sizes. That’s why we’re working with Huntsville, AL to tap into the city’s planned municipal fiber network. And that’s why we’re trying something different in our latest Fiber city—San Francisco—where we’ll bring service to some apartments, condos, and affordable housing properties, using existing fiber.”

    “San Francisco has a long history of creativity, innovation, and development, with its iconic cultural centers, countless startups, and dozens of colleges and universities. In thinking about how best to bring Google Fiber to some residents in this unique city, we considered a number of factors, including the City’s rolling hills, miles of coastline, and historic neighborhoods,” says Slinger. “By using existing fiber to connect some apartments and condos, as we’ve done before, we can bring service to residents more quickly. This approach will allow us to serve a portion of San Francisco, complementing the City’s ongoing efforts to bring abundant, high-speed Internet to the City by the Bay.

    Earlier this month, Google announced it would bring its gigabit Internet service to residents in all public housing properties that it connects with Google Fiber. This launched with the Housing Authority of Kansas City at West Bluff. As the company notes, the U.S. has some of the most expensive broadband in the world despite lagging speeds, making it difficult for low income families to get online.

    Partnering with the Nonprofit Technology Network, Google will bring the Digital Inclusion Fellowship to San Francisco. You can read about that here.

  • Google Takes Fiber To Public Housing

    Google announced that it will bring gigabit Internet service to residents in all public housing properties that it connects with Google Fiber. This is launching with the Housing Authority of Kansas City at West Bluff.

    This is the first property to get gigabit Internet as a part of the program and wires 100 homes with Fiber. Families that live there can sign up now.

    “And through local ConnectHome partners, such as Connecting for Good and Surplus Exchange, they’ll also be able to purchase discounted devices and learn new computer skills,” says Google Fiber Vice President Dennis Kish. “Across Kansas City, we’re working with local affordable housing providers to connect up to nine properties, reaching more than 1,300 families in the metro area.”

    “Looking forward, we plan to bring gigabit Internet to select affordable housing in all of our Fiber cities,” Kish adds. “We’re working with local providers to identify which properties we’ll connect across these markets, and we’ll have more to share as we bring Google Fiber to these cities. Finally, inspired by the early success of our work with the Housing Authority for the City of Austin, we’ll be complementing this $0/month Internet service by working with local partners to make new investments in computer labs and digital literacy classes so residents learn the skills they need to get online.”

    As the company notes, the U.S. has some of the most expensive broadband in the world despite lagging speeds, making it difficult for low income families to get online.

  • Google’s Apology for World Series Fiber Outage: Two Free Days

    In terms of worst times for an outage, Game 1 of the World Series is pretty high on the list.

    Unfortunately, that’s what happened to many in the Kansas City area as their Royals took on the New York Mets Tuesday night.

    Fans flocked to Twitter to express outrage, disbelief, horror, and sadness over the fact that their Google Fiber service had crapped the bed for a couple of innings (some experienced a longer outage).

    Google quickly apologized, saying, “We’re so sorry about the outage in KC. We know it couldn’t have happened at a worse time, and we’re working as quickly as we can to fix it.”

    But apologies aren’t a game rewind. And it looks like Google has taken a proactive approach to keep one of its few Google Fiber locations happy.

    Via PC Mech, here’s the email Google sent out to customer in the Kansas City market:

    I just wanted to reach out to say how much we regret yesterday’s service outage. It occurred at an important moment for Kansas City: Game 1 of the World Series.

    Many people on our local team are from Kansas City, and we love our Royals. We let you down, and we let our community down. We will do better.

    Our first priority was to get you back online as quickly as possible. And we’re taking immediate steps to ensure this type of issue doesn’t happen again. We know you put your trust in us to be there when you need us.

    Although we can’t bring back the moments you missed, we would like to offer you two days of service credited to your next monthly bill.

    If you have questions, please contact our support team.

    Kelly Carnago
    Head of Google Fiber Business Operations, Kansas City

    What is two free days of Fiber worth? Gigabit + TV is $130 a month, so about $8.66.

    Still, it’s a nice gesture. It won’t remove all the salt, but it should help. I can think of a few other providers who’ve never offered me anything after an outage.

  • Google Fiber Likely Headed to Oklahoma City, Jacksonville, and Tampa

    Google Fiber may be coming to Oklahoma City, OK, Jacksonville, FL and Tampa, FL.

    The three cities have been invited “to explore bringing Google Fiber to their communities”. Last month, Google sent the same invite to Louisville, KY, Irvine, CA, and San Diego, CA.

    “These growing tech-hubs have a strong entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to small business growth. Their list of accolades is long—from Jacksonville’s title as a top 10 city for tech jobs, to Tampa Bay’s #2 spot on the list of best cities for young entrepreneurs, to Oklahoma City’s recognition as the #1 city to launch a business. One of our goals is to make sure speed isn’t an accidental ceiling for how people and businesses use the Web, and these cities are the perfect places to show what’s possible with gigabit Internet,” says Google.

    According to Google, it will “study factors that may impact construction, like local infrastructure and housing density” and then “decide if it can bring Google Fiber to these areas”.

    Back in August, Google announced that Fiber would be coming to San Antonio, the biggest city to receive the service yet.

    In January, Google announced Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, and Nashville as next stops for Fiber. In March, Salt Lake City got the nod.

    As of today, Fiber is up and running in Kansas City, Provo, Utah, and Austin.

    Image via Google Fiber

  • Google Fiber Is Likely Headed to Louisville, San Diego, and Irvine

    Google Fiber may be coming to three new cities, as the company has announced it’s asked Louisville, KY, Irvine, CA, and San Diego, CA “to work with us to explore bringing Google Fiber to their communities.”

    “To kick things off, we’ll work with Irvine, Louisville and San Diego to conduct a detailed study of factors that affect construction, such as local topography, housing density, and the condition of existing infrastructure. Meanwhile, cities will complete a checklist of items—such as providing a map of utility lines—that will prepare them for a large-scale fiber build,” says Jill Szuchmacher, Director, Google Fiber Expansion.

    “Once we complete this planning process, we’ll determine if we can bring Google Fiber to Irvine, Louisville and San Diego. Every city is different and will move on a unique timeline, so we’ll keep in touch with residents about our progress along the way. And regardless of whether Google Fiber comes to the region, this process gives cities a head start in welcoming any gigabit provider to the area.”

    Back in August, Google announced that Fiber would be coming to San Antonio, the biggest city to receive the service yet.

    In January, Google announced Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, and Nashville as next stops for Fiber. In March, Salt Lake City got the nod.

    As of today, Fiber is up and running in Kansas City, Provo, Utah, and Austin.

  • Google Fiber’s Next Stop is San Antonio, Its Largest City Yet

    It’s official – Google Fiber’s next stop is San Antonio.

    This will be the biggest city to which Google’s brought its high-speed internet.

    According to Google, the Fiber installation will require over 4,000 miles of cable.

    “From starting Bexar BiblioTech, the first all-digital public library in the U.S., to being named a leading city in cybersecurity, San Antonio has developed a thriving tech landscape. Hundreds of startups have found their home in the Alamo City through collaborative workspaces and accelerators like Geekdom and Cafe Commerce. Moreover, San Antonio’s recent selection for President Obama’s Tech Hire and Connect Home initiatives will help create a pipeline of tech jobs and narrow the digital divide. With speeds up to 1,000Mbps, compared to the U.S. average of just 12Mbps (Akamai, Q1 2015), Google Fiber will further fuel the city’s growth,” says Texas Google Fiber head Mark Strama.

    In January, Google announced Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, and Nashville as next stops for Fiber. In March, Salt Lake City got the nod.

    As of today, Fiber is up and running in Kansas City, Provo, Utah, and Austin.

    “Kansas City, Provo, and fellow Texas tech-hub Austin have already shown what’s possible when growing cities and businesses have access to gigabit internet. In the homes of those using Google Fiber, families spend less time arguing over bandwidth, and more time surfing the web,” he said.

  • Comcast Announces 2Gbps Fiber, Fires Shots at Google

    Comcast has just put a lot of pressure on Google by announcing a new internet service that will deliver speeds twice as fast.

    Next month, the company will begin a rollout of a new 2Gbps broadband service called Gigabit Pro. It’ll start in Atlanta and spread from there. Comcast says it hopes to offer the service, which it touts as the fastest residential speed in the US, to over 1.5 million Atlanta metro residents directly out of the gate.

    And the company says it wants to rollout this out quickly.

    Here’s Comcast’s shots fired moment:

    “Our approach is to offer the most comprehensive rollout of multi-gigabit service to the most homes as quickly as possible, not just to certain neighborhoods,” said Doug Guthrie, SVP of Comcast Cable’s South Region. “We already provide the fastest speeds to the most homes and businesses in Atlanta, and access to Gigabit Pro will give our customers all the broadband capacity they need to stay ahead of future technologies and innovations.”

    Yeah, Google Fiber’s rollout is painfully slow. Then again, people overwhelmingly love Google Fiber. Not sure the same can be said of Comcast.

    More from Comcast:

    Gigabit Pro will be available to any home within close proximity of Comcast’s fiber network and will require an installation of professional-grade equipment. The company has fiber at the core of its network and, for the past decade, it has been extending it deeper into neighborhoods and closer to homes. To date, Comcast has built out more than 145,000 route miles of fiber across its service area.

    No word yet on pricing, but that “installation of professional-grade equipment” doesn’t sound cheap. Still, you can’t not be impressed by the speed of Comcast’s new network. The company hopes to cover over 18 million homes by the end of the year.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Google Fiber Is Officially Coming to Salt Lake City Next

    Salt Lake City is the next city that’ll get Google Fiber, the company announced today.

    “Salt Lake has more than breathtaking mountain vistas and fantastic ski slopes. It also hosts a booming technology sector, world-renowned universities and a vibrant local culture. We’re looking forward to seeing Salt Lake residents use gigabit Internet to spark creative ideas, jumpstart businesses and collaborate in ways they couldn’t before,” says the company in a blog post.

    This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, as Google made its intentions known about a year ago when it announced nine metros it was eyeing for Fiber expansion.

    Salt Lake City joins Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, and Nashville as the newest cities to get Fiber.

    Google Fiber is currently available in Kansas City, Provo, UT, and Austin, TX.

    Images via Google

  • Google Fiber Coming to Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, and Nashville

    According to sources quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Google is gearing up to announce that its Fiber initiative is expanding into four metro areas.

    The four cities reportedly getting Google Fiber next are Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, and Nashville.

    From the WSJ:

    Google recently sent invitations to local news organizations in those four cities to attend events this week, without identifying the subject. The Atlanta and Nashville events are scheduled for Tuesday, Raleigh and Charlotte on Wednesday and Durham Thursday, according to local news reports.

    UPDATE: Confirmed.

    These picks shouldn’t really surprise you, as Google made its intentions known last year regarding the cities into which it may or may not expand. Google says that the Raleigh-Durham expansions would include the areas of Carrboro, Cary, Chapel Hill, durham, Garner, Morrisville, and Raleigh. As far as the Atlanta expansion goes, Google has said it would include the areas of Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, College Park, Decatur, East Point, Hapeville, Sandy Springs, and Smyrna.

    Google Fiber is currently available in Kansas City, Provo, UT, and Austin, TX.

    Image via Google

  • Google Now Accepting Fiber Signups In Austin

    Google announced as far back as April that it would be launching Google Fiber in Austin, Texas. In October, the company revealed it would launch in December.

    Well, guess what. December is here, and Google just announced that it is now accepting signups in the city.

    That includes businesses. In a blog post, Google writes:

    Access to abundant, super fast Internet can open up new opportunity for communities — and from the day we announced our plans to build in Austin, the city has embraced the possibilities that will come from Internet that’s up to 100 times faster than today’s average speeds. Today we’re kicking off Google Fiber signups for Austinites, their neighbors, and local small businesses in the South and Southeast areas of the city. This is just the beginning. We’ll be opening new areas of the city for signups on an ongoing basis, and we hope to bring Fiber to every neighborhood in Austin that wants it.

    Whether you’re in a home, apartment, or a small business, you’ll notice that getting Google Fiber is a little different. We don’t choose which areas get Fiber — you and your neighbors do. Last year I shared an early look at how this will work; now you’ll be able to see this process live so that you know how many more people need to sign up in order to bring Fiber to your neighborhood. For Austinites in neighborhoods (or ‘fiberhoods’ as we call them) that are open for signups, you can choose one of three Google Fiber plans.

    If you’re in the city, and looking for an apartment to rent where you can take advantage of Google Fiber, Google has an apartment finder service available here.

    Image via Google

  • Google Fiber For Small Business Gets Early Access Program

    Google announced the launch of an Early Access program for Google Fiber for Small Business in central Kansas City. It’s available immediately in a “handful of fiberhoods” in both Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO.

    Businesses in the area can sign up for a gigabit connection. These will be the very first businesses to get Google Fiber.

    “A super-fast Internet connection can have a big impact on unlocking new possibilities for small businesses,” says Carlos Casas, Kansas City Field Team Manager for Google Fiber. “From the start, small business owners have told us that they want Google Fiber to help them move faster, work better together, reach new parts of the world without boarding a plane, and save time for the important things—like growing their business.”

    “Earlier this year, we started a pilot in Kansas City to learn more about what business owners need,” says adds Casas. “We heard from documentary filmmakers, flower shops, web development agencies, and more. All of these small businesses have a lot of ideas on how a faster Internet connection could speed up their entire business — we can’t wait to see what they do with Google Fiber.”

    Eligible small businesses can check out the website for more details and to register for updates.

    Google recently announced that its launching Fiber in Austin in December. The small business program will expand later on.

    Image via Google

  • Google Fiber Heads To Austin, Wants To Help You Find An Apartment

    At a press event, Google announced that Google Fiber will come to Austin in December, where it will reside alongside AT&T’s gigabit internet.

    Google announced plans to launch Fiber in Austin back in April of last year.

    “It’s a mecca for creativity and entrepreneurialism, with thriving artistic and tech communities, as well as the University of Texas and its new medical research hospital. We’re sure these folks will do amazing things with gigabit access, and we feel very privileged to have been welcomed to their community,” Google said in a blog post at the time.

    The news comes a little late, as Google had initially expected to have Fiber up and running in Austin by the middle of this year, but what’s a few months when it comes to having good internet service?

    GigaOm reports that Google will start deploying the service in the south and southeast parts of town before gradually rolling it out to other areas.

    Austin’s KUT.org quotes the company from the event:

    “We can only launch one seventh of the city at the time,” Mark Strama, head of Google Fiber’s Austin operations, said of the slow rollout. “The network will include 3000 miles of new fiber optic cables. It’s like going to Canada and back.”

    According to Strama, new users that live in South and Southeast Austin can signup for Google Fiber by the end of the year. The company says the process is taking longer because the fiber network had to be planned and designed from scratch.

    Google has an apartment finder service showing properties that are joining Google Fiber. It’s probably a busy day for those property managers. You can take a look here.

    Image via Google

  • Time Warner To Boost Internet Speeds in Austin

    As Time Warner and Comcast continue to work out their big merger, internet and cable TV customers across the U.S. are preparing for an even larger company to take over their local cable monopolies. There is a spark of hope, though.

    In the places where Google has announced it will install its Google Fiber initiative competition has, unsurprisingly, spurred otherwise lazy companies to actually improve their service. Just months ago AT&T announced that it will offer a competing gigabit internet and TV service in Austin, Texas. Now, Time Warner is waking up and doing its best to compete as well.

    Time Warner Cable today announced that it will be significantly raising internet speeds for its customers in the Austin area. These customers will not have to pay any extra money for these new speeds, but will see their download speeds, in some cases, rise by over 600%. The speed increase will begin rolling out to customers sometime this summer.

    Time Warner customers in Austin with the most basic internet service package will see their 2 Mbps download service rise to 3 Mbps. Those with the “standard” package will see a boost in download speed from 15 Mbps to 50 Mbps. The gains are even more significant for the cable company’s higher-priced internet packages – the “Ultimate” package will see download speeds rise from 50 Mbps to 300 Mbps.

    These speeds don’t come close to the gigabit internet service AT&T and Google will be offering, but Time Warner is hoping that it will be enough for existing customers to stick with cable. The company is touting the fact that these speed increases will roll out all over its service area around Austin while Google is still slowly installing its infrastructure.

    Of course, the very fact that Time Warner can manage to raise its internet speeds for everyone in Austin puts the lie to the common cable company defenses that speed upgrades are too expensive, or that customers don’t really want higher speeds, or even that bandwidth caps are necessary to reign in the crazy amounts of traffic customers are using. The very fact that Time Warner is raising speeds in Austin – one of the only places in the U.S. that local cable is now facing competition – perfectly demonstrates just how complacent cable companies have become and how unfairly customers under cable monopolies throughout the U.S. are being treated.

  • Google Fiber May Be Coming to These 9 Metros

    Take a look, people. If your city is on this map, Google is at least actively considering bringing Google Fiber your way.

    The company just announced that they will be looking at the feasibility of installing its 1 gigabit (soon to be 10?) high-speed internet service in 9 different metro areas–34 communities altogether.

    Here’s a full list:

    • Portland, Oregon–Beaverton, Lake Oswego, Hillsboro, Tigard, and Gresham
    • Atlanta, Georgia–Avondale Estates, East Point, Brookhaven, Hapeville, College Park, Sandy Springs, Decatur, and Smyrna
    • Charlotte, North Carolina
    • Nashville, Tennessee
    • Salt Lake City, Utah
    • San Antonio, Texas
    • Phoenix, Arizona–Scottsdale, Tempe
    • Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina–Carrborro, Cary, Garner, Morrisville, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Durham
    • San Jose, California–Santa Clara, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto

    Not on the list? Yeah, me neither. Let’s all just slink back into our giant, Comcast/Time Warner-sized holes and cry.

    Google is not saying that all of these cities will be getting Fiber. They say that they want that to be the case, but it “might not work out for everyone.”

    Basically, Google has to see which cities can handle it (and how much it can handle itself in the process).

    “We aim to provide updates by the end of the year about which cities will be getting Google Fiber. Between now and then, we’ll work closely with each city’s leaders on a joint planning process that will not only map out a Google Fiber network in detail, but also assess what unique local challenges we might face. These are such big jobs that advance planning goes a long way toward helping us stick to schedules and minimize disruption for residents,” says Milo Medin, VP, Google Access Services.

    “We’re going to work on a detailed study of local factors that could affect construction, like topography (e.g., hills, flood zones), housing density and the condition of local infrastructure. Meanwhile, cities will complete a checklist of items that will help them get ready for a project of this scale and speed.”

    So, why these areas? According to Google, they all “made high-speed broadband a pillar of their economic development plans.” If you’re not on this map, blame your local government.

    Image via Google Fiber Blog

  • Google Shoots for 10 Gigabit Fiber in Three Years

    The U.S. has slow internet. It sucks. The giant iron fists of a handful of monopolistic ISPs continue to pound the weak, helpless masses. One bright spot in the dark, depressing wasteland has been Google Fiber, Google’s one gigabit high-speed internet service. Of course, Google Fiber is only in a few select areas–so looking to it as some sort of high-speed savior is ill-advised. But hey, they’re trying.

    Now, it looks like the company wants to make their offering even faster. A lot faster. And they want to do so in a shorter time frame than you might expect. Sadly, you’ll probably never see it anywhere near your house.

    Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet conference, Google CFO Patrick Pichette said that the company is currently working on bringing fiber of up to 10 gigabits per second–10 times the already blazing speed (at least in an American context) they currently offer.

    He also referenced Google’s “obsession with speed.”

    And in terms of when we might see this, Pichette threw out three years as a possibility.

    “That’s where the world is going. It’s going to happen…why wouldn’t we make it available in three years? That’s what we’re working on. There’s no need to wait,” said Pichette (via USA Today)

    Google Fiber is currently up and running in Kansas City and a handful of surrounding areas–as well as Provo, Utah. It’s also moving into Austin, Texas soon. Google charges $70 a month for their gigabit internet, and $120 a month if you add on a TV package.

    Like I said before – all of this is great for Provo, Kansas City, Austin, and the additional cities that Google will no doubt bring the service to in the coming years. But for the rest of us? Well, the sad truth is that most of us are unlikely to see 10 gigabit fiber–or anything like it. Some analysts have calculated that the cost of bringing Google Fiber to most of the U.S. would be about $11 billion, or about 4% of Google’s current net worth.

    While 10 gigabits per second isn’t even close to the fastest network in the world, it’s pretty damn fast. And compared to what most of us in America are used to, well, it’s downright blazing.

    Image via Google Fiber, Facebook

  • Kansas Bill Would Stop Further Google Fiber Expansion In The State

    In 2012, Google finally rolled out its Google Fiber initiative in Kansas City. It chose the city largely because it offered the best deal and incentives that made rollout fast and affordable for Google. Time Warner Cable and other ISPs complained that they should get the same treatment, and now they’re trying prevent other cities in the state from doing the same thing.

    The Consumerist reports that the Kansas state legislature has introduced a new bill called the Municipal Communications Network and Private Telecommunications Investment Safeguard Act. In essence, the bill would prevent cities from rolling out their own networks or partnering with private enterprises to roll out networks in the name of safeguarding competition.

    Of course, as we all know, the traditional ISP business is completely devoid of competition. Google Fiber was the first real competition Time Warner Cable had ever faced and things got really petty for a while. The ISP soon realized that it needed to offer better service though and increased network speeds for Kansas City residents in response.

    To prevent itself or others from having to actually compete, the Kansas Cable Telecommunications Association introduced the above bill through president John Federico. The bill says that municipalities may not directly, or indirectly, “offer or provide to one or more subscribers, video, telecommunications, or broadband service” or “purchase, lease, construct, maintain, or operate any facility for the purpose of enabling a private business or entity to offer, provide, carry, or deliver video, telecommunications, or broadband service to one or more subscribers.”

    Now, the funny thing about this bill is that it would be an excellent bill if the ISP market was full of competition. You don’t want government getting in the way of a free market, right? Unfortunately, ISPs are doing everything they can to tighten their local monopolies and have set up agreements to not compete in regions where another ISP operates. In response, cities started to set up their own networks or cooperate with private entities to introduce competition and the incumbent ISPs don’t like that one bit.

    So, where do we go from here? According to Ars Technica, the bill has already been referred to the Kansas Senate’s Committee on Commerce where it will be discussed next week. Kansas residents can only hope that their legislators don’t fall for the ISPs’ lies of decreased competition in the face of state interference.

    Image via googlefiberofficial/YouTube