Google Fiber Targets Chicago and Los Angeles (blogspot.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Google announced that they have invited Chicago and Los Angeles to investigate whether the company's Fiber internet service would work there. If it works out, they would be the biggest cities to incorporate Google Fiber yet. Chicago is home to 2.7 million people, and Los Angeles has almost 4 million. Google hastens to add that this is an exploratory process, and they might not be able to bring Fiber to these cities for a number of reasons, but they're hopeful that expansion can proceed.

Comments

In Chitown - piggyback off People's Gas

[Anonymous Coward]

The public natural gas utility is on a multibillion pipeline replacement/upgrade project (converting from low to medium pressure in the process) for all the gas mains in the city.

The irony is if your gas meter is in the house they'll run a new line to an outside relocation of the meter.

This leaves the bare pipe running inside with no gas in it; perfect for a clean fiber run to a safe, dry location.

Seems like a perfect opportunity to lay new fiber. Google should work with them to give customers a twofer.

International efforts, please Google

[Grench]

I'd like to see Google Fiber coming to the UK - give BT Openreach some much-needed competition.

Sure, there are plenty of ISPs in this country - but they are all entirely dependent on BT Openreach's fixed-line infrastructure, telephone exchange network, and street cabinets.

End the monopoly!

Re:International efforts, please Google

[AmiMoJo]

It's a shame BT blocked NEC's plan for a national fibre network. They were offering to take the money that the government set aside for full broadband coverage and build a high speed fibre-to-the-home network. It would be open to all ISPs, and run by a non-profit.

Instead BT told their friends in the government that they wanted the money and would spend it on rural broadband, honest. Of course they didn't and we are now stuck with their crappy FTTC network that is being rolled out as slowly as possible. Why bother with upgrades when there is no competition?

We could have had one of the best networks in Europe, instead we have a terrible one run by a monopoly. Worse than what other countries had over a decade ago.

Re: Asking for permission to compete?

[bill_mcgonigle]

> but being bled year after year by an incumbent monopolist is worse

Only for the consumers. It's great for the rent-seekers and rent-grantors. But Google has little choice but to ask the rent-grantors. They're not stupid either - they're going to create a scene. Either they expand or they prove a point for their legislative efforts. Win-win. Google is doing social good here.

Re: Asking for permission to compete?

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

That is definitely true. The 'franchise agreements' need a very, very, serious kick in the ass(even if they weren't invidious in principle; it is [i]pitiful[/i] how cheaply municipalities have been bought off: "Ooh, CableCorp LLC said that they'll provide each school with a 'free' lowest-tier-of-'business class' internet connection in exchange for exclusive rights to suck our citizens dry. Amazing deal!"). I am extraordinarily pleased that Google has been working to scare the incumbents, at least in some markets, and to demonstrate how much of the high cost and low quality is purely a matter of lack of competitive pressure(even when they can't actually match gigabit service, because they are working with legacy coax, it's...interesting...how much cheaper and faster the competitor's offerings are in markets where Google is active, or sniffing around, than in markets where they aren't. You'd think that somebody would ask Comcast and friends about how that strange dissimilarity comes to be...

My point was purely that, given the logistics of a network build-out, a society with theoretical adherence to private property rights is trickier than one where you can just steamroller whoever you like. This seems like a good reason to stop pretending that ISPs actually operate in under meaningfully 'free market' conditions; and either aggressively step up efforts to change this, or keep a closer eye on them as oligopolies; but it is the case.

Gigabit to the home in Lincoln, Neb.

[andyring]

Tsk Tsk...

Lincoln, Neb., is getting gigabit fiber to every home and business in the next four years. It's a wet dream for anyone in the tech world. No install fees, no modem rentals, GUARANTEED MINIMUM of 100 mbit, no throttling, etc. It'll provide phone and TV as well. I've read the entire franchise agreement and it's a very good arrangement for the city. Interestingly enough, it's largely possible because back in the 1970s, a public works guy had the brilliant idea to install conduit to all the city's traffic signals. So there's more than 300 miles of conduit already installed and leasable.

A local company, Nelnet, bought a western Nebraska company, Allo Communications apparently because the top Nelnet guy couldn't get fiber to his home very easily. So he figured, heck, I'll just buy the whole company and get fiber to the whole city.

Re: LA/Chi Don't hold your breath

[WindBourne]

here is an article in which they announced that starting in 2015, they would hit the south and southeast and move forward. Also , if you want it, get your neighbors involved. That article gives clear direction as to what is going on, and what someone that really lives in Austin needs to do.