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AT&T To Match Google Fiber In Kansas City, Charge More If You Want Privacy

An anonymous reader writes: When Google Fiber started bringing gigabit internet to cities around the U.S., we wondered how the incumbent ISPs would respond. Now we know: AT&T has announced they will match Google Fiber's gigabit offerings in Kansas City. Of course, there are some caveats. First, AT&T's rollout may stop as it fights the Obama administration over net neutrality. Not that it would be a nationwide rollout anyway: "AT&T does not plan to offer the ultra-fast Internet lines to every home in the market. Rather, he said the company would calculate where demand is strongest and the investment in stringing new cables promised a decent return."

There are also some interesting pricing concerns. The company plans to charge $70/month for gigabit service, but that's a subsidized price. Subsidized by what, you ask? Your privacy. AT&T says if you want to opt out of letting them track your browsing history, you'll have to pay $29 more per month. They say your information is used to serve targeted advertising, and includes any links you follow and search terms you enter.

2 of 227 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Thought process by Alpha232 · · Score: 5, Informative

    let me know the next time Google wires up a violence plagued ghetto somewhere.

    https://fiber.google.com/citie...
    Oh trust me... there are plenty...

    Also, I believe the city had some say in where they started, and in what order zoning/permitting was/is being approved.

    Now if you want to go and say they are cherry picking markets as in those where it will do well (big cities), let me show you every commercially available communications advance (POTS with > 28.8, DSLAMs, ISDN, Cell Service, 4G, Cable, Broadband)

  2. Re:Thought process by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Did you read https://fiber.google.com/legal/privacy.html?

    Technical information collected from the use of Google Fiber Internet for network management, security or maintenance may be associated with the Google Account you use for Fiber, but such information associated with the Google Account you use for Fiber will not be used by other Google properties without your consent. Other information from the use of Google Fiber Internet (such as URLs of websites visited or content of communications) will not be associated with the Google Account you use for Fiber, except with your consent or to meet any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request.

    Either (1) Google is lying in their privacy policy (doubtful--even if you didn't trust them it'd be a big liability) or no, they're not doing all that AT&T. The only fine print is "100 times faster Internet claim is based on the FCC’s benchmark for broadband of 4 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. Go to Google Fiber Help Center for further details. Service not available in all areas."