Google product managers Minnie Ingersoll and James Kelly made a bold announcement in 2010:
We’re planning to build and test ultra-high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States. We’ll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. Our goal is to experiment with new ways to help make Internet access better and faster for everyone.
Since then, when questioned about Google’s ability to offer this kind of service to end-users cheaper than the current cable and fiber companies, Milo Medin, head of Google Fiber shot off, “We expect to make money from Google Fiber. This is a great business to be in.”
Google takes a different approach to where they will provide Google Fiber – the receiving cities must be willing to collaborate with Google to help keep the costs down. Google realizes that home users do not need 1 gigabit of speed right now, but they are looking at ten years down the road.
Google Fiber just finished with their fiber project in Kansas City and then announced that it would expand into Austin, Texas. However today, Google confirmed that Provo, Utah would be the third U.S. city to receive this sought after fiber network.
When asked why Provo, Google Fiber manager said:
Utah is already home to hundreds of tech companies and startups, and many of them are based in Provo. In fact, the Provo area ranks second in the nation in patent growth, and is consistently ranked as one of the top places to live and do business in the U.S. We believe the future of the Internet will be built on gigabit speeds, and we’re sure the businesses and residents of Provo already have some good ideas for what they’d build with a gig.
Google was able to purchase an existing fiber network that just needs to be upgraded so the deployment will be much easier than in Austin. Google plans for Austin are to have customers signup for the service in early 2014 and then start installation in mid-2014.
Pricing in Provost will be the same as other cities:
- Free Internet: Basic internet up to 5 Mbps download, 1 Mbps upload, free for at least the next seven years.
- Gigabit Internet: Connection speeds up to 100 times faster, up to 1 Gbps download and upload for $70 a month.
- Gigabit Internet + TV: Get the 100 times faster internet speeds plus hundreds of HD channels. Record up to 8 shows at once and store up to 500 hours of HD content for $120/month.
Provost residence will certainly benefit from this Google relationship by being provided more options at better pricing. Comcast already has plans to slash prices on their bundled packages they currently offer in Provost…funny what a little competition will do.