Google Fiber: The Latest Internet Broadband

Google Fiber offers Internet speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second, which Google says is 100 times faster than the average Internet user’s service. Google also offers a Fiber TV service that lets customers watch all shows in HD, record up to eight shows at once and store up to 500 hours of HD video in the cloud. Customers can watch across several devices, including cell phones and PCs.

Last year, Google announced that Kansas City would be the first city to host Google Fiber and this week, the Mountain View giant confirmed that it had selected a second city for the program – Austin, Texas.

Google’s Milo Medin wrote in a post on the Google Fiber blog, Austin is “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,” Mr. Medin added.

It’s unclear exactly how cheap. AT&T did not announce pricing, and Google’s Medin said his company hasn’t “settled on pricing for Austin.”

In Kansas City, the Fiber Internet and TV package costs $120 a month with a two-year contract, and those customers can control multiple televisions using the included Google Nexus 7 tablet. Google also offers an Internet-only option for $70 a month and a free Internet service at “today’s average speeds.” The search giant is also providing the service for free to local schools, community centers, government buildings and libraries.

The speedy service is an exciting option for customers, but building out a new network costs a lot of money, from laying down the network infrastructure to actually connecting individual homes. Analysts aren’t convinced it’s a smart business move for Google.

Fiber-optic installation often involves ripping up a customer’s lawn. Verizon is not planning to expand its FiOS fiber-optic network, and as part of Project VIP, AT&T recently pledged to bring fiber to its neighborhood networking nodes — but not to homes.

Still, Google has made it clear it plans to expand the service. According to the Fiber Cities website, Google will roll out Fiber to handful of cities around the initial launch site: Missouri’s Kansas City North and South, and Kansas’ Westwood, Westwood Hills and Mission Woods. The timeline is unclear, but all five cities are listed as “coming next.”

Source: csmonitor.com, cnn.com