How major ISPs are reacting to Google Fiber

[Hum]

What began as a curious and expensive Google experiment is fast becoming a much-needed catalyst for change in an industry that has long been considered among the most anti-consumer businesses in America. Often characterized by poor customer service and regional monopolies, pay TV and Internet service providers have continuously raised service prices while also helping to ensure that broadband and TV competition is kept at a minimum. But despite the current state of the industry and its long history, Google Fiber is quickly becoming a disruption that can?t be ignored.

For those unaware, Google Fiber offers customers 5Mbps broadband service that is completely free and guaranteed to stay free for seven years. Those looking for quicker speeds can pay $70 per month for lightning-fast 1Gbps Internet service, and $120 per month gets customers 1Gbps broadband as well as TV service.

Needless to say, these three packages are infinitely more attractive than the service bundles available to most American households.

Google Fiber is currently available only in a handful of U.S. cities, but Google announced in February that it is considering expansions into nine additional markets: Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh-Durham, San Antonio, Salt Lake City and San Jose. But despite its small footprint, major U.S. ISPs have been forced to react.

?Clearly, Verizon is placing a large bet on future need for fiber-optic based FiOS,? The Motley Fool?s Tyler Lacoma wrote. While its share price has fallen by more than 6% in the past several months on the news of the company?s increased debt, Verizon still had a healthy net operating cash flow around $38 billion last year.

According to Lacoma, Comcast and Google are on a collision course that could see Google Fiber soon pop up in several key Comcast territories, such as Salt Lake City and Portland. Moreover, he believes that within the next five years, ?Google may have a presence in dozens of cities and Comcast will likely be under pressure to upgrade its older lines into faster networks. This would pitch the two companies against each other more directly.?

Lacoma discusses how these scenarios might impact each company?s share price, but one thing is clear for American households: If Google and Comcast are indeed on a collision course, consumers will be the real winners in the end.

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[perochan]

Finally to my area!!

 

and take that comcast and verizon.

[PGHammer]

Finally to my area!!

 

and take that comcast and verizon.

And the ONLY reason Google Fiber is getting anywhere (within Google, mind you) is that the stockholders are in favor of it.

 

FIOS (merely within Verizon's stockholders, mind you) was seen as a money-loser, and cost the previous CEO his post.  The current CEO is from the mobile side of VZ and was a leader in getting the rest of VZW from Vodaphone plc.

 

Comcast?  Their investment in improving their existing infrastructure (including acquired infrastructure) is also not cheap, and the money to pay for it is invariably going to come from their customers.

 

Google is basically able to use their own stock as the money to pay for Google Fiber - however, Google is staying with small and nominally-greenfield deployments.  (Only their initial deployment in the Kansas Cities - where Comcast is the dominant broadband provider - is different, and even Google Fiber is not covering the entirety of the Kansas Cities.)

[ShadowMajestic]

I wouldn't ever get Google Fiber myself, but it should give a massive boost to the average internet in the US... Which in return will benefit me :)

 

Sometimes it still surprises me many people are on high latency low bandwidth lines with 100ms pings and <2mb download.

And it will help make bandwidth policies a thing of the past.

We got rid of crappy internet and bandwidth policies because of massive competition in the ISP market.

[Dane]

Wow I wish we could get this instead of the monopoly we have now. I pay $60 for 15 down and 2 up. I want comcast over who we have now.

[+Red King Subscriber²]

Well at Google's speed it will be ten years till they come to New Mexico. Before that, monthly pounding from local provider will suffice.

[tytytucke]

Google sure is growing fast as a whole. Move out of the way competition.

[Mr.XXIV]

Durham <3

[T3X4S]

Here is how frustrating this topic is. 

AT&T is still using copper phone lines.  They claim their U-Verse is a fiber connection -- ITS NOT.

If you have 5 miles of connections, and 20 feet are fiber, you can't say "I have a fiber connection" - thats exactly what AT&T does.
Its only as fast as the slowest part.

 

For years, the ISP have balked @ fiber "because its so expensive" - when the reality is they want to milk customers till the end of time without having to spend any money on gutting their infrastructure and moving to fiber.  This way they can make customers think that things are the way they are because of technology - not because of greed.
They pay tens of millions of dollars every year to interest groups in DC to hold back the push of fiber, to keep everyone in the dark ages - which is where their network is.
The company is just too big - I was a consultant for them, and I can tell you from 1st hand experience - one department doesnt know the other department even exists - it is a world class cluster - %^& over there.

Verizon & Google - are paving the way of the future.  I cant wait till I move to Austin next year which was Google's 2nd area to deploy Fiber -

[ensiform]

one department doesnt know the other department even exists - it is a world class cluster - %^& over there.

Comcast restructured so that they would be like this on purpose.  You can't even call a local office for anything, it always gets routed.

[T3X4S]

Comcast restructured so that they would be like this on purpose.  You can't even call a local office for anything, it always gets routed.

Absolutely, mind-boggingly frustrating, isnt it ?

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

TWC reacted to this by raising prices in my area.

 

(not really, im joking b/c im upset they raised prices again)

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

I have FIOS so my internet is pretty damn good but I would LOVE to be able to switch to Google just because Verizon literally does everything they absolutely can to screw their customers over completely. They are no doubt of the belief the customer is always wrong and it really does sicken me I have to use them.

 

I even went as far as cancelling my service with Verizon and switching to Optimum as they were willing to pay my early termination fee for me, however I had nothing but issues with my Optimum service. Would frequently go down for no reason. Speeds would fluctuate. They just were not reliable, and at the time my wife worked from home so reliability was absolutely essential.

 

If Google ever came to New Jersey I am sure they would come across hundreds of thousands of people just like myself, who even though we have two options, sometimes more, we are not truly happy with any of them. I would even go as far as saying I would pay my early termination fee on my own just to stick it to Verizon.

[theyarecomingforyou]

Considering that the one-third of the US only has one provider to "choose" from this can't come soon enough. However, if the US had properly regulated the market this would never have been an issue.

[DConnell Member]

So what's the time frame for Middleanowhere, PA? (Usually shown on the map as Honey Brook)

[xrobwx71]

So what's the time frame for Middleanowhere, PA? (Usually shown on the map as Honey Brook)

https://fiber.google.com/newcities/

[Krome]

I had a landline phone service with them for many years; over 10 years.  Maybe bout 20 years already.  Their landline outside of my house is degrading and it's been giving me trouble.  I had to call them to fix so often.  All the time, it was not internal wiring.  But they are sick and tired of fixing, they make me pay this time cos it cost them money to sent tech to come and fix the line.  The rule is that if I do not pay an extra money monthly, I have to pay out of my own pocket to cover the cost if they found that it was internal wiring that is causing the issue.  Well it was not internal but they charge me for it anyways.  I spoke to their manager and the only thing I get out of her was that the decision was locked and she could not change it.  They were wrong for charging me and I could take them to court cos I hate dealing with court so they put the bill on my account and so I disconnect the service and would not pay cos they were on the wrong side of the law.

 

Short story is  that I want FIOS but don't want to deal with Verizon service model.  How they think the customer is always wrong.  Well I been putting on hold for many years to get FIOS.  Will probably wait for Google to get here.  Maybe it might happen in 20 years from now lol.

I have FIOS so my internet is pretty damn good but I would LOVE to be able to switch to Google just because Verizon literally does everything they absolutely can to screw their customers over completely. They are no doubt of the belief the customer is always wrong and it really does sicken me I have to use them.

 

I even went as far as cancelling my service with Verizon and switching to Optimum as they were willing to pay my early termination fee for me, however I had nothing but issues with my Optimum service. Would frequently go down for no reason. Speeds would fluctuate. They just were not reliable, and at the time my wife worked from home so reliability was absolutely essential.

 

If Google ever came to New Jersey I am sure they would come across hundreds of thousands of people just like myself, who even though we have two options, sometimes more, we are not truly happy with any of them. I would even go as far as saying I would pay my early termination fee on my own just to stick it to Verizon.

 

[PGHammer]

Comcast restructured so that they would be like this on purpose.  You can't even call a local office for anything, it always gets routed.

Comcast started that restructuring while Bill Clinton was president of the United States - and before the acquisition of what was AT&T Broadband - AT&T's old cable-TV business.  Even at that time, their cable-TV business was scattershot, with little islands across the United States - they didn't even have pricing sanity in a single region.  Even after all the mergers and acquisitions that Comcast has accomplished since then - including the monster with NBC's broadcast and cable-TV betworks, let alone the similar holdings of Universal - they STILL don't have complete pricing parity, even across their own footprint - largely due to regionally-specific disruptors - not alone Google Fiber.

 

If you have to deal with a local office of ANY utility, your best bet has ALWAYS been to go in person - not use the phone.  (That was true before AT&T busted itself up, and remains true today.)

[ensiform]

If you have to deal with a local office of ANY utility, your best bet has ALWAYS been to go in person - not use the phone.  (That was true before AT&T busted itself up, and remains true today.)

Of course it usually is but there are circumstances where calling the switchboard doesn't do you any good when you physically want to ask said local office if they've got the piece of equipment you want to pick up in stock (example).  They don't always have everything in stock depending on time of year etc if its peak season with lots of sign ups.  And yes I understand why they do it, its so that people calling are not holding up people who are actually there or actually doing work at the office always.