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Google Fiber To Come To Provo, Utah

An anonymous reader writes "Google announced today that they intend on purchasing the existing iProvo fiber network to make Provo the third U.S. city to have Google Fiber. If approved by the city council, implementation would begin later in 2013. 'As a part of the acquisition, we would commit to upgrade the network to gigabit technology and finish network construction so that every home along the existing iProvo network would have the opportunity to connect to Google Fiber.'" Also at SlashCloud

92 comments

  1. Funny timing with CISPA vote today... by kcbnac · · Score: 0

    Funny that Google (one of the backers of CISPA) announces something that will catch everyone's eyes and ears on the same day CISPA goes to the Senate floor for a vote.

    1. Re:Funny timing with CISPA vote today... by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      Canadians can at least try to do something about it:
      http://www.leadnow.ca/stop-fipa-vote.

    2. Re:Funny timing with CISPA vote today... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google has actually declined to take a position on CISPA according to the EFF.

  2. Not fair to call it Google fiber by TWiTfan · · Score: 2, Informative

    AFAICT, Google hasn't laid a single foot of fiber themselves. They've just been buying up existing fiber that has already been laid by earlier projects and calling it Google fiber.

    --
    The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
    1. Re:Not fair to call it Google fiber by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Google, Microsoft and Apple do the same thing. If it's something bought from someone else, they re-brand it. Examples include Google Fiber, MS-DOS and Siri.

    2. Re:Not fair to call it Google fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Google is connecting fiber lines directly to people's homes. They've laid plenty of fiber.

    3. Re:Not fair to call it Google fiber by Yanzzee · · Score: 2

      AFAICT, Google hasn't laid a single foot of fiber themselves. They've just been buying up existing fiber that has already been laid by earlier projects and calling it Google fiber.

      The difference here being Gigabit speeds, or free 5Mbit for those that don't need the speed. Both of which will probably be a big hit in a college town, and weren't previously offered by iProvo.

    4. Re:Not fair to call it Google fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google hasn't laid a single foot of fiber themselves.

      Do you have a source for that? Mercury News claims that "The Provo deal is the first time Google plans to acquire an existing fiber-optic system."

      (see http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_23045919/google-fiber-takes-new-challenge-obtaining-an-already)

    5. Re:Not fair to call it Google fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They may not be laying it themselves, but someone is paying all those trucks in my neighborhood to lay fiber. (Olathe)

    6. Re:Not fair to call it Google fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Living in provo, it'll be a good thing. We have the worst oligopoly I've ever seen. the iProvo bid the city tried would've been more successful if they had the capital to really invest in it properly ( which being a small-ish town they didn't). There is lots of fiber laid, but they are going to be expanding it. My biggest hope is Comcast and the other ISP's in the area take notice. Unfortunately, at the moment it is limited to pretty much just Provo, which is tiny. I work for BYU and I doubt any of my colleagues live within the city. Most people who actually "live" here ( non students) live in Springville, Orem, American Fork and the likes. But if it upsets the standing oligopoly enough to hurt them, maybe the other close by communities will benefit from some real competition.

    7. Re:Not fair to call it Google fiber by tlhIngan · · Score: 2, Informative

      Google, Microsoft and Apple do the same thing. If it's something bought from someone else, they re-brand it. Examples include Google Fiber, MS-DOS and Siri.

      Siri wasn't re-branded. It was always called Siri, named after the original company, Siri Inc, which was spun off from SRI International (Stanford Research Institute) - a company created by Stanford to commercialize Stanford's research.

      Of course, there were dozens of other things that were re-branded. Like Thunderbolt (though Apple licensed the trademark for free usage, after seeing what happened with FireWire)

    8. Re:Not fair to call it Google fiber by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      You're right about Siri, my mistake. In the case of Thunderbolt, AFAIK it was developed jointly with Intel, so apart from the different name I don't think it's anything like Google Fiber.

      I guess OS X would be a better example, since Apple bought NeXT and used its OS as the basis for OS X.

    9. Re:Not fair to call it Google fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah. iProvo was started by the city and was a huge and expensive disaster with incomplete service, huge fees and ended up being passed around like a hot potato through multiple service providers. Google can call it whatever they want, so long as they fix it.

    10. Re:Not fair to call it Google fiber by compro01 · · Score: 2

      All the Thunderbolt rights, including trademark, belong to Intel. Apple registered the trademark initially, but then gave it to Intel sometime in 2011

      --
      upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
    11. Re:Not fair to call it Google fiber by Qzukk · · Score: 1

      AFAICT, Google hasn't laid a single foot of fiber themselves

      That's funny, half the rage over google fiber in Kansas was them getting permission to use power poles for stringing up fiber. Not sure what everyone was up in arms about if all that fiber was already there.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    12. Re:Not fair to call it Google fiber by dywolf · · Score: 1

      if that's what it takes....

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    13. Re:Not fair to call it Google fiber by TWiTfan · · Score: 1

      Google has been buying up existing "dark fiber" networks since 2005. They've made little secret of it.

      --
      The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
    14. Re:Not fair to call it Google fiber by Branciforte · · Score: 1

      Google is laying tons and tons of fiber.

      Google does buy up dark fiber capacity, for backbones, but that has nothing to do with the Google Fiber project in KC, Austin, and Provo.

      Tons of fiber has been installed in KC. I'm not sure about the situation in Austin. In Provo, Google is taking over the unfinished government fiber project and finishing/upgrading it.

  3. Get googles attention: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In order to get google fiber to come to your city just get your city council to start their own fiber network.

    1. Re:Get googles attention: by fishybell · · Score: 2
      ...and then fail to deliver very well, then lose millions of tax payer dollars, then give it away, then buy it back, then give it to Google, then continue to lose millions of dollars. Brilliant!

      ...then again, I'm getting Google Fiber...yeah, I'll take it.

      --
      ><));>
  4. Stop taunting us! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    When will Google Fiber come to my city! Yes, I'll give up all my privacy to Google! You know the truth? If Google demanded I send them nude pictures so I could have gigabit Internet, I'd do it! Anything for gigabit Internet! PLEASE!!! NOW!!! PLEASE!!!

    1. Re:Stop taunting us! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's their goal, in fact. With naked pictures of everybody, you'd have everything you want on the internet. Users get free access to naked pictures in exchange for pictures of themselves naked.

      I have to run, I'm going to the market to exchange food I already have for other food that I don't have.

    2. Re:Stop taunting us! by antdude · · Score: 2

      Ditto. I will show off my sexy abdomen, stinger, thorax, etc. ;)

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    3. Re:Stop taunting us! by StormReaver · · Score: 1, Interesting

      When will Google Fiber come to my city!

      Every time I have to talk to AT&T tech support, I make sure I mention that I really, really, really hope that Google Fiber comes to my area so I can drop AT&T.

      Recently, my UVerse modem died, requiring a replacement. After it was installed, I had to call tech support to get my static IP address reinstated. At one point, I said I was using Linux, and AT&T said they would have to stop the tech support call right there. I then said I was running Windows XP, and the tech support guy resumed being just as useless as he was before I said I was running Linux.

      I want Google to come to my city soooooooo badly.

    4. Re:Stop taunting us! by egcagrac0 · · Score: 2, Funny

      The trouble with crowdsourcing naked pictures is that there are a lot of people out there I don't want to see naked.

      Perhaps that's their business model - pay us, or we send you more pictures of 14/f/cali guy.

    5. Re:Stop taunting us! by Guppy · · Score: 3, Funny

      Google FIber: The cure for a constipated telecom monopoly. No, seriously -- just one dose, and entrenched ISPs start running :)

  5. At this rate by BenJeremy · · Score: 1

    Google Fiber will engulf the US in a mere 4,378 years!

    1. Re:At this rate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google Fiber will engulf the US in a mere 4,378 years!

      I'm not sure why they are expanding when the original Kansas City install is not even 10% completed.

    2. Re:At this rate by fatalwall · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Maybe because Kansas City is being installed as fast as they want and they figure they can have teams in different locations going at max safe speed for install without conflicts. It could also be due to what the cable/media companies are doing with Caps and Cable subscription requirements to access content on hulu which goes inverse to the point of hulu. How best to shake things up then to have multiple sites being implemented forcing companies to upgrade networks or risk a google takeover of all customers.

    3. Re:At this rate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google Fiber will engulf the US in a mere 4,378 years!

      So... Faster than AT&T, then?

    4. Re:At this rate by stretch0611 · · Score: 1

      Google Fiber will engulf the US in a mere 4,378 years!

      Which when compared to cable providers will be 100x quicker than their scheduled upgrade to Gigabit. (and 250x quicker than telcos.)

      And don't forget, even when cable companies get to the Gigabit threshold, they will still have a 250Mb/month usage cap. (which will only be waived if you are in an area where they do not have a monopoly and fear you may leave for the competition.)

      --
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    5. Re:At this rate by symbolset · · Score: 1

      Kansas city is very cold in the winter. Now that it is warming up there, they can send crews for field training from more habitable places. It takes time to build methods, processes and human resources so they start slow as they figure out the optimal ways to do things. The KC installers probably live in the KC area and if they develop too many crews they will run out of work. Once they have good processes the scale can ramp pretty quick.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
  6. Re:Coming next by flaming+error · · Score: 0

    With such bandwidth they should be able to beam themselves straight from their transporter room to your MMORPG..

  7. Can't wait by ekimd · · Score: 3, Informative

    As a current iProvo fiber user, I can't wait to welcome my new Google overlords.

    --
    'Impossible' is a word that humans use far too often. -- Seven of Nine
    1. Re:Can't wait by fishybell · · Score: 2

      I used iProvo back when Provo city was still running the ship and it was perfectly fine (except the install process). Each time it moved hands it seemed to get worse. This final move will hopefully be the last. I texted John Curtis (Provo mayor) as soon as I heard the announcement. His response? "It's a great oppurtinity for Provo." I find that somewhat telling as Provo city gets 25 buildings wired to gigabit for free, while the taxpayers (myself included) continue paying for the $39 million bond.
      iProvo was sold for one dollar ($1 USD) to Google. Google upgrades services at their cost, provides free internet to Provo citizens at 5 mbit ($30 install fee) and to Provo goverment (and library, etc.) at 1 gbit, and Provo gets to put a big smily face on it's city while continuing to pay $3.3 million a year towards the bond. I guess the idea is that this will get more high-tech businesses to setup in Provo, but as far as I can tell, it's mostly just a "we hate Veracity" measure to get them to not be the provider anymore.

      --
      ><));>
    2. Re:Can't wait by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      You meant $300 install fee, right? (Though I see that for the higher priced ones, they even have the install fee officially listed as waived, like I had read about in other news stories.)

      Even if you do have to pay $300 install fee, that's at worst equivalent to 1 year of DSL (using AT&T's price for naked DSL.. The $14.95/month ads require you to have a phone line)⦠then free. Seems like a great deal to me.

    3. Re:Can't wait by jensend · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's true that this is basically a "take this away from Veracity" move.

      iProvo was a great idea. It was killed by politics.

      The extreme right-wing folks who think there should be no public services managed to force Provo to not provide services directly ("retail model") but rather to cut corporate middlemen in on the deal ("wholesale model"). That privatized all the profits while socializing all the costs. Unsurprisingly, it failed.

      Given the political realities in Utah right now, I suppose the Google Fiber deal is the best we could hope for. But we would have had something at least as good way back in 2006 if it weren't for idiotic politicians.

    4. Re:Can't wait by c++0xFF · · Score: 1

      It's a $30 activation fee for those already on iProvo. My bet is that new customers pay a $300 install fee for the free service, just like elsewhere, but no news on that yet.

    5. Re:Can't wait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As someone who has veracity, their service has been great but I swear they only have two guys in their tech support department and they came right out of high school because it sucks worse than a hooker with braces.

  8. Indeed by Dega704 · · Score: 2

    Here's hoping they do the same with the stalling UTOPIA network in Salt Lake City.

    1. Re:Indeed by Smonster · · Score: 1

      Salt Lake City is not part of UTOPIA. Though many surrounding municipalities are part of it.

    2. Re:Indeed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about the giant hole in Utopia that is Orem? I was walking around the neighborhood I'm moving into and there are stakes down for a Utopia fiber run that a resident said had been there for a year. I'm settling for no contract CenturyLink for the time being. Glad to know that someone other than Veracity will be taking on iProvo. Their customer service is atrocious and their service is fast, but that's about it.

    3. Re:Indeed by Dega704 · · Score: 1

      Here's hoping that they do the same with the UTOPIA network in Brigham City, Centerville, Layton, Lindon, Midvale, Murray, Orem, Payson, Tremonton, and West Valley City then. Is that better? Criminy.

  9. Porn by Oyjord · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just imagine how much faster the porn will download in Utah! Wait....

    1. Re:Porn by ewieling · · Score: 1

      Indeed. Old, but may be relevant: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705288350/Utah-No-1-in-online-porn-subscriptions-report-says.html?pg=all

      --
      I really shouldn't have used someone else's email address for this account.
    2. Re:Porn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and the lack of knowledge about a sub culture rears its head! Congrats you're the first idiot!

    3. Re:Porn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably just as fast as my next bowel movement after taking Google fiber.

  10. Big cities?? by seven+of+five · · Score: 1

    I'm getting the impression that LA, Chicago and NY are going to have a long wait for this.

    1. Re:Big cities?? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Now imagine how long people in Shawinigan, Québec, Canada will have to wait.

    2. Re:Big cities?? by rsborg · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm getting the impression that LA, Chicago and NY are going to have a long wait for this.

      Of course they will. Do those cities also have a municipal fiber setup that Google could snatch up for $1?
      When Google is looking at the FIBER_ROLLOUT_CITIES table, they aren't doing an ORDER BY population DESC. More like ORDER BY cost, legal_difficulties ASC.

      --
      Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
    3. Re:Big cities?? by Guspaz · · Score: 1

      Shawinigan is in the service area of Bell Canada, who are deploying fiber to the home (in general, not necessarily currently in Shawinigan) at a pretty decent pace, although their speeds top out at 175 Mbps symetrical for several times more than Google charges.

    4. Re:Big cities?? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      And since it's Bell, that 175 Mbps will be useless after about an hour or two of downloading. They have some of the worst monthly caps I've ever heard of.

    5. Re:Big cities?? by Guspaz · · Score: 1

      They have unlimited for $10/mth extra, although I'm not sure if they're still allowing people to sign up for it.

    6. Re:Big cities?? by MrDoh! · · Score: 1

      I wish more things were explained using simple SQL.

      --
      Waiting for an amusing sig.
  11. acceleration by sayfawa · · Score: 1

    Wow, from the first city to the next getting it, it was, what, about a year? And now another one in a matter of days. If my calculations are correct, all baryonic matter will be made of google fiber in a month, or so.

    Awesome!

    --
    Free the Quark 3 from asymptotic confinement! Bring your charm! Don't get down! All colours and flavours welcome!
    1. Re:acceleration by MrYingster · · Score: 2

      Is extrapolating your hobby? XKCD

  12. Coming next -faster Comcast!!!! by tooyoung · · Score: 1

    I wonder how long it will take for Comcast to suddenly decide to offer a very similar service in Provo.

  13. Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! Danger! by AtomicSymphonic · · Score: 1

    Looks like ISP's better watch their collective back. Google coming to screw telecom monopolies over and give the customer what they truly want in an obscure city somewhat near you...

    1. Re:Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! Danger! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Looks like ISP's better watch their collective back.

      No, please no. I love my ISP with its National Security Letters Canary ( "This message indicates that we have not received any NSLs" ) and do-anything-you-want-its-your-Internet policy.

      I don't want Google with its NO SERVERS and CONSUME MORE ADS policies.

    2. Re:Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! Danger! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      logs what I do, injects ads, hijacks DNS, and prevents me from accessing ThePirateBay

      Citation?

    3. Re:Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! Danger! by fishybell · · Score: 1
      Hey! That obscure city is where I live!

      ...then again, it's usually listed as "a suburb of Salt Lake City" even though it's 40 minutes away...

      --
      ><));>
    4. Re:Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! Danger! by Zeromous · · Score: 1

      Google and Facebook have yet to support CISPA.

      --
      ---Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A START
    5. Re:Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! Danger! by Zeromous · · Score: 2

      Which for that matter has nothing to do with collecting your personal information and injecting ads.

      --
      ---Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A START
    6. Re:Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! Danger! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not happy that Google may disrupt the national internet service provider market. Instead, I am happy that Google may disrupt the national internet service provider market.

  14. Why not work in parallel in different cities? by DragonWriter · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm not sure why they are expanding when the original Kansas City install is not even 10% completed.

    Because fiber deployment (both actual fiber laying and establishing service) in different cities is something that parallelizes quite well providing that you have sufficient capital, so there is no reason to hold off starting work in other cities just because you haven't finished in the first one you started in.

  15. How is it not fair to call it Google Fiber? by DragonWriter · · Score: 4, Insightful

    AFAICT, Google hasn't laid a single foot of fiber themselves. They've just been buying up existing fiber that has already been laid by earlier projects and calling it Google fiber.

    You know what, most airlines have never built an airplane themselves, either, they just buy up (actually, I think "lease" is the more common model now) existing airplanes and slap their names on them. So what?

    Since when is it "not fair" to use your company's name on a service you sell, just because some key pieces of equipment used in providing that service were either purchased or leased from someone else? Is it unfair for the (very many) companies selling services built on top of, e.g., Amazon's cloud infrastructure (who haven't even bought the infrastructure from Amazon, but are renting it dynamically based on usage) to use their own name rather than Amazon's for their services?

  16. Is UTOPIA Next? by Sir_Eptishous · · Score: 1

    Google would get a firesale price if they wanted to purchase UTOPIA.
    Google, buy UTOPIA!

    --
    We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
    1. Re:Is UTOPIA Next? by littlewiggler · · Score: 1

      Yup - and sign up West Jordan....

  17. Why? Cause they LOVE the gov't by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Utah.... how strategic.

    Either have the gov't be a customer or even a buyer from the gov't! Hmm.... the possibilities...

    This is not a surprise. Utah's going to have HUGE pipes going in soon.

  18. mean while...back in silicon valley by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Home of Google/Apple/Cisco/Juniper/Intel - we still stuck at 2Mbps DSL and 15Mbps Cable

    Yawn.....

  19. So glad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    I'm so glad that I moved to Utah!

    Said no one ever (still).

  20. Re:Coming next by egcagrac0 · · Score: 1, Funny

    Multi-Mormon Online Real Proselytizing Game?

  21. Who cares. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As a non-Mormon Utah native I always find it amusing when Mormons get so offended when the rest of the country proves how insignificant their religion actually is.

  22. History repeats by dbIII · · Score: 2

    A place in Utah was also the third site in the forerunner of the internet.

  23. Why choose Provo? (hint: lookup Bluffdale, Utah) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Just wanted to float the slightly unobvious fact that Provo is only one county away from Bluffdale, Utah where the NSA's new data facility (capable of storing the entirety of the Internet for the next 1000 years) is located..

    *wink wink...say no more, say no more*

  24. Connection to new NSA data center in Bluffton, UT? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coincidence or conspiracy? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Data_Center Per Google maps, 26.8 miles away.

    Might the new data center be a motivating factor for putting Provo, UT as the _third_ city to get Google Fiber? Provo, UT isn't _that_ large of a city.

  25. SCO Group? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    SCO (now operating under the name TSG Group) is based in Lindon UT, a suburb between Provo and Salt Lake City.

    Wonder what they'll do with the cheap bandwidth.

  26. Pop Star! by AnotherAnonymousUser · · Score: 1

    How else could they stream Lindsey Stirling performances live to her millions of fans?

  27. Re:Why choose Provo? (hint: lookup Bluffdale, Utah by MrDoh! · · Score: 1

    Good, I've been looking for an off-site backup of all my animated cat Gifs. This /might/ be enough.

    --
    Waiting for an amusing sig.
  28. Even then... by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    I guess OS X would be a better example, since Apple bought NeXT and used its OS as the basis for OS X.

    I don't know, it still shares the "X"... :-)

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Even then... by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      Maybe that's why they called it "X" instead of "10".

  29. Google doesn't use SQL, they use GQL by digiti · · Score: 1

    So the result for this would be a failure due to no index. Ugh. BigTable.

  30. Whooo hoo! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    iProvo, wasn't that great (which I already have). Now I get awsome internet!!!!

  31. Re:Why choose Provo? (hint: lookup Bluffdale, Utah by unixisc · · Score: 1

    The old headquarters of Novell?

  32. its a shame really.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    its a shame that in their own backyard, they cant offer the same service..
    Makes you wonder about whats really going on in california.
    Perhaps because there no way the sate could make an apprecible ammount so just not allow it to be offered..
    Once again bolstered by the the dying page know as /. Wow great content guys..

  33. $1 Fiber network by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Even though Google is promising a number of upgrades to iProvo, having a government sanctioned monopoly for $1"

    http://transmission.xmission.com/2013/04/18/the-1-fiber-optic-network