Google Fiber is an experimental Gigabit internet service that’s currently deployed in Kansas City, with plans to expand the service to other areas nationally. As of April 2013 Google has announced it will be expanding Google Fiber to Provost, Utah and Austin, Texas as their first 2 cities beyond the Kansas City area.
In 2010 Google announced its intention to roll out Google Fiber to one or more US cities. Many cities competed for attention, staging publicity stunts to bring Google to their area. A few examples: Sarasota, FL renamed an island to “Google Island” and Topeka, Kansas changed its name temporarily to Google, KS. In the end – and for lots of reasons – Google picked Kansas City for its initial rollout.
It is currently the fastest consumer high speed internet option in America, beating out FiOS, cable, and DSL for speed.
Google Fiber advertises speeds of 1 Gig – that’s 1,024 Mbps per second, asynchronously – meaning both upload and download speeds are 1 Gig/s. To give you a basis of comparison, the average US home connects at 3 Mbps for downloads and 0.6 Mbps for uploads. This means that Google Fiber is 333 times faster (downloads) and 1666% faster (uploads) than the average American internet connection. The actual reported speeds from already connected homes, however, hover around 700 Mbps when tested (which is still blazing fast).
Google Fiber is available as a standalone broadband service or as a TV + Internet bundle, both with fairly simple pricing options:
Internet Only
$70 per month / $0 Construction Fee
One gigabit upload & download • 1 year contract • $0 construction fee • Includes Network Box • 1TB Google Drive • + taxes & fees
$0 per month / $300 (One Time) Construction Fee
5Mbps download, 1Mbps upload • Free service guaranteed for at least 7 years • Includes Network Box • $300 construction fee (one time or you can choose 12 monthly payments of $25) + taxes and fees
TV + Internet
$120 per month / $0 Construction Fee
One gigabit upload & download • 174 TV Channels (20 local + 154 national) • 2 year contract • Free Nexus 7 tablet • 1 TV Box • Storage Box • Network Box • 1TB Google Drive • + taxes and fees
You can also add NFL Redzone for $40 and/or Starz/Showtime for $10 each. Hispanic channels are available for an additional $5 per month.
There are no data caps with Google Fiber.
Click here to get full details on Google Fiber or check your availability.
