Google Fiber Is Officially Making Its Way To Portland

Posted by samzenpus on Monday June 16, 2014 @12:50AM from the getting-more-fiber dept.

An anonymous reader writes This week the Portland City Council has approved a franchise agreement with Google to bring its fiber service to Portland. "As a result of the unanimous vote, Google will be subject to a five percent 'franchise fee' on its video revenues. It won't have to pay a three percent 'PEG' fee that Portland otherwise charges rival Comcast, but it will offer free Internet service for Portland residents for a $300, one-time fee. It'll also provide free Internet service to some to-be-determined nonprofits, in addition to providing a total of three free Wi-Fi networks in various parts of the city."

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Re:$300 = free? by Scutter · 2014-06-16 01:21 · Score: 5, Informative

OK. They are really stretching the word "free" here. Free = $300 + greedily scooping up your data with this service now or in the future? No, that's far from free.
Compared to the anal probing from Comcast et. al.? Yeah, it's free.

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