Google Announces Plans To Expand Fiber To 34 Additional U.S. Cities

[techbeck]

 

Google today announced that it is planning to expand Google Fiber to 34 new cities in nine metro areas, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh-Durham, San Antonio, Salt Lake City, and San Jose. The company says it has invited these cities to work with Google to ?explore what it would take to bring them Google Fiber.?

 

Don?t get too excited yet, though. Google will provide updates by the end of the year which cities will actually be getting Fiber. The company says it will work closely with city leaders on a joint planning process to map out the Fiber network in details and to ?assess what unique local challenges? it might face. ?While we do want to bring Fiber to every one of these cities, it might not work out for everyone,? Google writes in the announcement.

 

So far, Fiber, which offers both a fast internet connection and an IP-based cable TV service, is only available in Kansas City and Provo, Utah. Google had also previously announced its plans to bring Austin, Texas online in the near future and already started construction there.

 

In its current form, Google Fiber offers users a choice between a cable and internet bundle ($120/month), unbundled gigabit internet service ($70/month) and a free internet service at basic speed. In the first few cities Google brought online, users who signed up for the paid plans did not have to pay any construction fees, while those who signed up for the free plans had to pay the $300 (in monthly installments) to get their Internet access. Users in Kansas City also received a Nexus 7 with their cable boxes, as well as a terabyte of storage on Google Drive.

 

So far, Google has stuck with this model, but it?s not clear if it will switch this up as it expands into different markets.

 

Ever since Fiber launched in Kansas City, users have been wondering if Google planned to just keep this an experiment, or if it was planning to roll this service out to a wider audience. Given its investments into Provo and Austin, a wider roll-out always seemed inevitable, though, and today?s announced makes it clear that Google has big plans for Fiber.

 

http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/19/google-plans-to-expand-fiber-to-34-additional-u-s-cities/

[Kalint]

Google.  Buddy. Pal.  There is this city called Milwaukee.  Just sayin!

 

FREE ME OF TWC!!  Especially if Comcancer successfully buys them out.

[statm1]

Hopefully the FCC grows a backbone and throws their weight behind denying the merger..

[chrisj1968]

Google.  Buddy. Pal.  There is this city called Milwaukee.  Just sayin!

 

FREE ME OF TWC!!  Especially if Comcancer successfully buys them out.

 

speaking of which. I hope I'm not mistaken but, I think in a week or so ago past, Comcast just aquired time warner or something...

 

added: yes they did: http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/13/technology/comcast-time-warner-cable-deal/ bought time warner for 45 billion. Comcast has always sucked.

[tsupersonic]

Google.  Buddy. Pal.  There is this city called Milwaukee.  Just sayin!

 

FREE ME OF TWC!!  Especially if Comcancer successfully buys them out.

Seriously. I hate the scumbag that is TWC. They raised my prices because the promotional period ended, and I called threatening to quit (hoping I would get another promotional deal for another year), and they called my bluff. This type of "monopoly" had to stop, they know there isn't worth switching to. I seriously wish I had another option like Fios or Google Fiber.

 

The government will probably approve the merger because these bastard cable companies have exclusivity on their markets (generally one cable provider per area). Plus they have some ties in Washington :\

[trag3dy]

Good news. I live near Portland.

[PNWDweller]

I'd probably use it myself if I was near one of the locations. 

 

I'd also love to see ISP's drop the silly little upload cap which is waaaaaaaaaaaay less than the download cap they give you.  I have a 30mb connect with a 4mb upload.  Great for getting files, but when you publish photos and sites online, it could make life much much easier to upload at the same speed you can download with.

[Grinch]

Seriously. I hate the scumbag that is TWC. They raised my prices because the promotional period ended, and I called threatening to quit (hoping I would get another promotional deal for another year), and they called my bluff. This type of "monopoly" had to stop, they know there isn't worth switching to. I seriously wish I had another option like Fios or Google Fiber.

 

The government will probably approve the merger because these bastard cable companies have exclusivity on their markets (generally one cable provider per area). Plus they have some ties in Washington :\

 

To be fair, you can't really blame them for not lowering your prices back down to a promotional price point just because you want them to. Charter is a bit more flexible with that kind of stuff, was cheaper for me to add their phone service to get another year of promotional pricing than to pay for just cable and internet. Saved about $20/mo.

 

Might want to see if that is an option for you as well.

[spenser.d]

To be fair, you can't really blame them for not lowering your prices back down to a promotional price point just because you want them to. Charter is a bit more flexible with that kind of stuff, was cheaper for me to add their phone service to get another year of promotional pricing than to pay for just cable and internet. Saved about $20/mo.

 

Might want to see if that is an option for you as well.

 

You can usually get Charter to drop back to promo pricing for another year if you just call and say you're going to go to Uverse or something. In fact a door-to-door salesman came to my parents house a few years back (apparently there are still a few of those around) and told them as much as part of his pitch.

[tsupersonic]

To be fair, you can't really blame them for not lowering your prices back down to a promotional price point just because you want them to. Charter is a bit more flexible with that kind of stuff, was cheaper for me to add their phone service to get another year of promotional pricing than to pay for just cable and internet. Saved about $20/mo.

 

Might want to see if that is an option for you as well.

No, I understand that. My promotion ended right around the time they announced they lost customers. I tried two associates and neither budged on giving me a better offer - all they wanted to do was offer me their phone service for $9.99/month. I don't need a land line. I checked their website, and of course they had better offers listed on the site and the associates couldn't give me those promotions... That's just the customer service. Let's talk about their service - one word sums it up - "blows." I live in an area where we get a lot of snow and it's windy in the winter - I am lucky to have internet if it snows/rains or is windy. I don't mind paying for service IF it was actually worth paying for. What I get from TWC, I would put it at $19.99/month - I pay triple that.