Those lucky enough to live in a city with Google Fiber will soon receive an update that essentially turns their current TV Box into a Chromecast. As the TV Box is already hooked up to a television, users will be able to stream music, video, and apps without making changes to their current setup.
Google I/O officially kicks off tomorrow, but this evening AT&T has taken some wind out of the company’s sails. AT&T has announced that it is brining its Google Fiber competitor to the Bay Area in California. The company says that its GigaPower service is now available in “parts of” San Francisco, San Jose, Dublin, Mountain View, Santa Clara and San Ramon.
We heard earlier this month that Google was planning to offer Fiber customers the option of a wireless service within its existing coverage areas, but a Re/code interview suggests that the company also sees wireless as a way to extend its reach beyond cities.
In an interview with Re/code, Access CEO Craig Barratt, who oversees Fiber, said the company is working on connecting wireless towers to existing fiber lines, and that it is “experimenting with a number of different wireless technologies” to make that happen.
Barratt said that adding wireless into the mix was a way to extend Google’s high-speed broadband service to areas where laying down optical fiber wouldn’t be economic …
When Google Fiber first launched in Kansas City, it did so with the promise of free internet, as long as customers paid for their installation. While subscribers could opt to pay $25 per month for 12 months to cover the $300 installation fee, internet usage was completely free. There was one caveat however: Download speeds were limited to just 5Mbps. Now, Google has replaced this Basic Tier with a 100Mbps plan and rebranded its two other tiers.
Earlier this year, Google began inviting certain Fiber customers to test out a home phone service. Today, the Mountain View company is officially adding a Fiber Phone service to the internet and cable TV services they already provide thus becoming a triple play provider…
About a year after the United States’ historical renewal of its relationship with Cuba, which among other things allowed American firms to do business in the country, it looks like things are looking bright for Cuban people interested in getting online.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, President Obama stated that ‘change is going to happen’, and notably mentioned Google as one of the first companies about to make the internet a reality for more and more people in the country…
ArsTechnica reports that AT&T is going to court to prevent Google Fiber getting immediate access to its utility poles in Louisville, potentially delaying Google’s plans to launch its high-speed broadband service in the city.
AT&T’s lawsuit in US District Court in Louisville says the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government’s ordinance is invalid because it conflicts with and is preempted by the Federal Communications Commission’s pole attachment regulations. AT&T also argues that under Kentucky law, only the state Public Service Commission has jurisdiction to regulate pole attachments.
AT&T is planning its own fiber service in the city, but insists that the case has nothing to do with Google …
Google is on a role with their Fiber deployment. This Monday, they announced Fiber service is coming to Huntsville, Alabama. Today, they’ve announced that Fiber will be coming to certain properties in San Francisco.
Google Fiber, part of Alphabet’s Access unit, is up and running in four cities and work is underway in another six. Fiber’s expansion into Huntsville, Alabama will be slightly different in that Google will be using the fiber network that the city is already building.
As part of giving back to the community, Google is providing free gigabit internet service to residents in all public housing where Fiber is deployed. This is a change from an announcement last year where only some in public housing would get free Fiber.
The Washington Post has gotten its hands on an invitation that reveals that Google is experimenting with adding a phone service to Google Fiber. Currently, Fiber only has internet and cable, but the addition of a Google Voice-like phone service would bring it in line with packages from other providers.
Google, or rather Alphabet’s Fiber division, is investigating bringing their service to Los Angeles and Chicago. The two cities are significant in that they’d be the largest areas Fiber has worked with. This is hot off the news that AT&T will be expanding gigabit internet to 38 metropolitan areas by the end of next year.
Population-wise, Los Angeles and Chicago are the second and third largest cities in the US, with Google noting a combined population of over six million people. Google notes how Fiber could positively benefit the two cities’ startup scenes.
Currently, the process is still at an investigative state and there is no guarantee Google will bring Fiber to the two cities. The company is going through their checklist process and will be in discussion with city leaders. According to their checklist document, cities have six weeks to meet Fiber’s requirements. Afterwards, Google deliberates and reviews for an unspecified amount of time.
Including these two cities, there are 11 other cities being investigated for Google Fiber deployment. The service is currently up and running in three cities, with upcoming installs in another six. For comparison, AT&T’s gigabit internet service is already up and running in parts of Los Angeles and a total of 18 other areas.
Per an earlier report, Google Fiber is being spun off from Google as part of the Alphabet re-org. The Access and Energy division also includes the OnHub router, Project Link, Project Sunroof, and Project Titan.
Google Fiber is slowly but surely gaining momentum, and the Mountain View company just last month announced that it began exploring Irvine, Louisville, and San Diego as potential cities for the service. Today, it looks like there are three more cities being added to the “maybe one day” list (which is definitely an upgrade from the “who knows” list most cities are still on): Oklahoma City, Oklahom, Jacksonville, Florida, and Tampa, Florida.
Google says these “growing tech hubs” have a “strong entrepreneurial spirit”:
That’s why today, we’re inviting Oklahoma City, OK, Jacksonville, FL and Tampa, FL, to explore bringing Google Fiber to their communities, as we did last month with three other cities. 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.
There are currently 3 Fiber cities, and 6 that are definitely on the way. This announcement leaves us with 9 cities that Google has designated as potentials, with the other 6 being Portland, San Jose, Irving, San Diego, Louisville, and Phoenix. Now, Google is going to start the “joint planning process” in collaboration with the three new cities’ local leaders to study their respective communities. Now it’s just a waiting game for those lucky enough to reside in these cities.
Google today has announced that it is launching a brand new training facility for Google Fiber in Atlanta, Georgia. In a blog post on the official Fiber blog, Google announced that it is introducing the Google Fiber Academy in Atlanta…
Google today has announced that it will begin “exploring” the expansion of Google Fiber to three new cities. The company announced in a blog post that it will begin working with city officials in Louisville, KY, Irvine, CA, and San Diego, CA to plan the launch of Fiber. The announcement of Fiber coming to San Diego makes it the largest city for the service to date. Previously, San Antonio was the largest city with plans for Fiber.
Following a trial period in Palo Alto, Kansas City was the first city to get Google Fiber. Today, Google (Alphabet?) has announced that its offerings in Kansas City are expanding, as some addresses in Olathe East are now eligible for Gigabit Internet + TV.
As you may be aware, Google founder Larry Page said when Alphabet was launched that Fiber would become its own subsidiary under the newly-formed conglomerate, sitting independent of Google with its own CEO. For now, the company is still operating under the Google Fiber name.
If you’re a resident of the Olathe East area and have been patiently waiting for access to Fiber, you can now head over to the Fiber website and give it your address. If your residence is located within the blue area shown below, chances are that you’re now eligible.
Google has announced today that the company is bringing its Fiber Internet service to San Antonio, the second city in Texas to get the service and the company’s “largest Fiber city to date”:
Fast growing cities need Internet speeds that can keep up with their progress. For the 1.4 million residents of San Antonio, one of the biggest and fastest growing cities in the country, this is truer than ever. Which is why, today, we’re proud to announce that Google Fiber is coming to San Antonio—the largest Fiber city to date.
Rollout of Fiber even in the Austin area — which has been an official Fiber city for quite a while — has been very slow, and Google says that it is only just now entering the “design phase” of building out Fiber in the San Antonio area. It’s going to be a while before residential customers can actually get on board.
Most recently, Google announced that it is launching a program to bring completely free internet access to public and affordable housing residents in four of its Google Fiber markets — part of President Barack Obama’s ConnectHome initiative. San Antonio was recently selected for ConnectHome as well.
Google announced today that it is launching a program to bring completely free internet access to public and affordable housing residents in four of its Google Fiber markets. The initiative is part of President Barack Obama’s ConnectHome initiative, which hopes to bring broadband connections to low-income households in communities across the United States…
The web is where we go to connect with people, learn new subjects, and find opportunities for personal and economic growth. But not everyone benefits from all the web has to offer. As many as 26% of households earning less than $30,000 per year don’t access the Internet, compared to just 3% of adults with annual incomes over $75,000. Google Fiber is working to change that. Today, in all of our Google Fiber markets, we’re launching a program to connect residents in select public and affordable housing properties for $0/month with no installation fee.
Google says that the program aims to bring Internet to children and families living in homes under the assistance of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This currently includes 27 communities, four of which are Google Fiber markets where the Mountain View company will be able to contribute: Atlanta, Durham, Nashville and Kansas City. Google says it’s coming to future Fiber markets as well.
Even though Google announced in December of last year that sign-ups for its Fiber TV and Internet service were live to residents of southern and southeastern Austin, they’ve actually been opened and closed several times. Sign-ups are going live in the southeastern section yet again today, according to the official Twitter account for the company’s broadband cable and Internet subsidiary.
Google finalized a deal to acquire Surprise, Arizona startup Athena Wireless Communications in February of this year, according to reports. The company has been around for several years and has spent much of that time building wireless LTE and small cell technologies that can move data at gigabit Fiber-like speeds. The acquisition is an obvious one for a company such as Google that is continuing to build out its Google Fiber infrastructure and has plans to announce its own MVNO… Expand
Expanding
Close
Google Fiber’s VP of access services Milo Medin says that while the company is a strong supporter of net neutrality, what consumers really need is legislation that enables greater competition in the broadband market. FierceTelecom reported Medin’s remarks in a keynote speed at the Comptel conference.
No consumers are seeing higher speeds than before the order was passed; no consumers are paying less for their Internet services than what they were paying for; no consumers are seeing higher volume caps that they had before; and no consumers have additional choice of providers than they had before.
Governments cannot legislate for better customer service, he said, but they can pass laws that increase competition in the market, and this is what will make the most difference to consumers … Expand
Expanding
Close
Comcast has come out today to announce that they’re prepping to beat Google Fiber to Atlanta—but they’re not just going for par; the company wants to one-up the offerings of Google and AT&T by introducing previously unheard-of 2Gbps residential Internet service. It will be “the fastest residential Internet speed in the country,” the infamous media conglomerate says. Expand
Expanding
Close
Google announced today that Salt Lake City will be the next location to receive the company’s Google Fiber TV and Internet service as the city begins preparing for the fiber network alongside other recently announced additions. Back in January Google announced Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and Raleigh-Durham would be the next locations to receive the Fiber service.
Google noted that Salt Lake City is currently in the Design phase as it looks to “work closely with these cities to map out just where to lay our fiber-optic cables” over the coming months:
There’s a lot of work ahead; as the new Associate City Manager for Google Fiber in Salt Lake City, I can’t wait to see what the city does with superfast Internet… Every mile of this super-fast network has to be planned – we can’t just put it anywhere. We use the data shared with us to create a map of where we can build (based on existing utility poles and water, gas, and electricity lines).
After the Design phase, Google will enter construction mode and begin laying down its fiber optic cable before accepting sign ups from customers and starting installation into homes. The company has a webpage tracking progress of Fiber in Salt Lake City here.
The process of bringing Google Fiber to new markets is a lengthy and messy political one as we’ve seen since the initiative first started in mid-2012. Google’s map of potential Fiber cities shared just over a year ago is mostly unchanged save for the southeast region moving to the upcoming Fiber cities category earlier this year.
Local government in Portland, a potential Fiber city on Google’s radar, actually unanimously approved plans for Fiber shortly after Google shared its potential expansion cities. More recently, though, Oregon lawmakers have created minor road blocks ahead of Fiber’s possible expansion to Portland. The kicker here is that the proposed legislation was actually intended to make Portland more appealing to Google… Expand
Expanding
Close
Google has revealed that it is rolling out a new ad delivery process to its Fiber TV service in Kansas City. The company says the new ad-targeting process is similar to what it already does on mobile devices. Normally, television ads are sold based on entire markets, not the individual user. With this new ad-targeting method, however, local Kansas City advertisers will be able to target specific users with their advertisements.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmZNZ3QMFMA]
Google announced today that it’s opening up its Google Fiber internet service to small businesses in Provo, Utah and more of Kansas City.
Google first launched an early access program for Fiber for small businesses back in November offering $100/month gigabit Internet to select areas in Kansas. It’s now opening that same deal in Provo and new areas in Kansas City North and South.
Provo has already shown us what’s possible when an emerging technology hub has access to gigabit Internet — from the DevMountain coding school, to a growing community at the Startup Dojo, or a geneticist who is using gigabit Internet to download an entire human genome in under an hour. We can’t wait to see the city’s small businesses do with Google Fiber.
Small businesses interested in learning more can stop by Google’s website.
Google SVP Sundar Pichai sat down with Bloomberg’s Brad Stone at the Mobile World Congress today in Barcelona, Spain, and as happens often, he had some pretty interesting things to say. Among other topics, the Chrome and Android lead at Google talked about the company’s goals for improving the world’s Internet connectivity through various projects (including the company’s MVNO plans), Google’s further mobile payment ambitions with Android Pay, how Android will tie into virtual reality, and more… Expand
Expanding
Close
Google Fiber has been instigating the growth of fiber Internet in the United States for a few years, and now AT&T is feeling the heat more than ever. Announced at midnight last night, AT&T said it’s finally ready to start selling fiber Internet services in Kansas City and its surrounding areas (via The Kansas City Star). The company finished the rollout of 1Gbps “GigaPower” service in Austin late last year, and now it seems it’s finally time for AT&T to live up to its promise to bring the service to other cities around the country…
We told you yesterday that Google was planning to bring Google Fiber to a handful of new cities, and today the Mountain View company has officially announced the expansion of its gigabit broadband service to Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.
Update: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is planning to announce Google Fiber expansion to four new cities: Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte, N.C.; Raleigh-Durham, N.C. and Nashville, Tenn.
Both Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham in North Carolina have long been listed as potential Google Fiber cities, and Ars Technica reports that these cities could be the next to offer the super high speed Internet and TV service with announcements expected next week and construction possibly beginning as soon as April. Expand
Expanding
Close
After revealing pricing last week, Google has today opened signups for Fiber in Austin, Texas. Google is starting its Austin rollout by opening signups in the southern and southeastern sections of the city. The company will expand the rollout to other portions of Austin “on an ongoing basis.” Both residents and small businesses in the pre-determined Fiberhoods can signup for the service today.
Google today has finally revealed its pricing plans for Fiber in Austin, Texas. The company plans to open up sign-ups for the internet service next month in the city, and while it was previously believed that Fiber in Austin would cost the same as it does in Kansas City and Provo, the company announced today that there are some slight variations (via Multichannel).
Google has been slowly rolling out its Google Fiber gigabit Internet service to more neighborhoods in Kansas City, Provo, Utah, and Austin, Texas, but it’s now opening up the service to small businesses for the first time. Google announced today on its blog that it’s kicking off an “Early Access Program for Google Fiber for Small Business” starting with select fiberhoods in Kansas City. Expand
Expanding
Close
Google promised back in July that its deal to provide free WiFi at 7,000 U.S. Starbucks locations would include connections up to 100x faster than usual in cities with Google Fiber – and it has now started to deliver on that. The company announced in its Google Fiber blog that a Kansas City branch is now home to the fastest Starbucks WiFi in the U.S.
At the corner of 41st and Main Street, a Kansas City Starbucks is teeming with people writing emails, streaming music, sharing videos, and more. Now that same Starbucks—one of the busiest in Kansas City—is the first to be connected directly to Google Fiber, so anyone visiting the store can get super-fast Internet with their Pumpkin Spice Latte.
The technofest doesn’t end there, either … Expand
Expanding
Close
Google Fiber is about ready to launch in its third city, according to The Wall Street Journal. The service is apparently about 3 months behind original schedule, and sign ups will be launched this December focusing on the south and southeastern parts of the city. The company’s original announcement touted “mid-2014” for launch, but it looks like laying groundwork for a fiber internet service isn’t exactly an easy task.
Despite its blazing fast data speeds, Google Fiber is off to a slow start. The web search king’s home internet and television services are only available in a few markets and while it may be expensive to organize a community install, a lack of infrastructure doesn’t appear to be holding Google Fiber back. It turns out that the need for television programming could be delaying Mountain View’s ISP efforts, as Google is dishing out large sums of cash in hopes of competing with established cable companies.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Google’s ultrafast Internet service Fiber has a new leader running the show, and not just any new leader. Dennis Kish, a former executive at semiconductor company Qualcomm, is replacing Milo Medin to head Google Fiber going forward. The Journal reports that Medlin will remain “an adviser to the Google Fiber team,” but the Google vice president will begin work on other unspecified projects.
Kish was brought in for his operational expertise and will lead Google Fiber as the high-speed Internet and television service expands to new cities.
As first reported by the Kansas City Star, several cable companies have started bumping up their internet speeds for customers, free of charge, in order to better compete with Google Fiber in Kansas City. Both Comcast and Time Warner announced changes for their internet packages.
Google, as noticed by GeekWire, has just acquired the networking start-up Alpental Technologies. The start-up is relatively unknown and never received too much press attention. Alpental was founded by former Clearwire executives, Pete Gelbman and Mike Hart. The former worked at Clearwire for seven years as a founding member of the company’s CTO group. He also oversaw the company’s systems engineering, intellectual property, and corporate research.
Google’s Fiber internet and TV services are scarce to say the least, but that doesn’t mean the company isn’t working on making improvements to its platform before expanding it to bigger markets. The folks at Zatz Not Funny have uncovered a recent FCC filing for what appears to be a second-generation Fiber TV set-top box. While the listing is light on details, it does reveal that model number GFHD200 is loaded with connectivity options, including 802.11 ac/n WiFi, 10/100 Ethernet, MoCA, Bluetooth and HDMI 1.4.
Earlier this year we told you that a number of additional cities were on the map for Google Fiber’s super high-speed Internet service including Portland, Oregon. Today, Portland’s City Council voted unanimously in approval of bringing Google’s gigabit Internet service to the area, The Oregonian reports. While the Portland commissioners did deliver approval for Google Fiber’s terms of the deal, the report notes that Google will “decide by the end of the year” if it will deliver on servicing Portland… Expand
Expanding
Close
Following earlier reports that Google was working on projects to bring WiFi hotspots to locations across North America, The Information is out with a report today claiming Google is planning “heavily subsidized Wi-Fi network hardware and software to small and medium-sized retail businesses.”
The report claims Google will offer the service to businesses like restaurants, doctors’ offices and gyms and could unveil it for customers in the U.S. and elsewhere as early as this summer: Expand
Expanding
Close
More evidence that Google is preparing to roll out its own Wi-Fi networks in the U.S. has been discovered in documentation for its Fiber service that’s currently in the process of expanding. IDG News Service notes that Google Fiber documentation currently being sent out to cities in the running to receive Google Fiber next have revealed that Google has plans for WiFi in addition to the Gigabit internet and TV service: Expand
Expanding
Close
Earlier this week, a job listing emerged regarding Google Fiber in New York City. This led many people to speculate that Google was working to launch its fiber network in the Big Apple. Fiber rollouts have been sparse so far, with the service only hitting a few markets, including Austin and Kansas City, so the idea of it launching in a city as massive as New York was certainly surprising. Although the company did recently announce a larger-scale rollout to nine new metro areas.
Google recently announced plans to expand its Google Fiber Gigabit internet and TV service beyond Kansas City & Austin to 34 more cities and it looks like it also has plans for New York City. Geek.com points us to a job listing looking for a regional sales manager based in New York that would “manage multiple teams that evangelize Google Fiber services to MDU (multi-dwelling apartments and condos) and large SMB owners.”
You will hire and manage a team that proactively reaches out and and articulates how Google Fiber Solutions can help make their work more productive. You will excel at team development, sales training and market strategy, while cultivating a strong base of new clients and working with fellow technical Googlers to devise solutions to meet customer needs.
Google has slowly been rolling out its Gigabit Google Fiber service starting with Kansas City and Austin since first unveiling Fiber back in 2012. In February, it announced plans for its biggest rollout yet including upcoming launches scheduled for Raleigh Durham, NC, Atlanta, San Jose, CA, Phoenix, AZ, Portland, and many surrounding areas. New York would be a big one to add to the list, but Google has yet to confirm any official plans.
via Google
According to a new report from The Information, Google has been exploring the possibility of providing its own wireless network in cities where Fiber, its ultra high-speed broadband service, exists.
After thrusting itself into competition with U.S. cable operators, Google is inching closer to competing with wireless carriers, too.
Google executives in recent months discussed their hope to offer a full-fledged wireless service in markets where it offers Google Fiber Internet and TV service, according to two people who have discussed the matter with Google. Such an offering would mean Google customers in places like Kansas City, Mo. could get voice and Internet access through their mobile devices wherever they go.
While the report seems to be vague on specifics, it suggests that a potential Google-operated wireless provider could use WiFi access spots built on Google Fiber’s gigabit broadband and rely on another wireless provider in the area to provide service to cover the gaps. Expand
Expanding
Close
San Jose Mercury News reports Mountain View City Council last night approved a new five-year deal with Google that will see the company revamp its aging free WiFi network in the city: Expand
Expanding
Close
Early last year, Google announced its intentions to make Provo, Utah its third Fiber city. In October, the company opened up sign-ups for a few customers along the local Veracity Networks provider, but told everyone else they would have to wait. Today, Google has announced that customers that live along the former iProvo can start signing up for Google Fiber.