Google Fiber Eyes 34-Market Expansion
Potential Expansion Sites Avoid Verizon FiOS, But Target Markets Served
By Comcast, Cox, AT&T, TWC, CenturyLink, and Frontier Communications
By: Jeff Baumgartner
Multichannel News
Feb 19 2014 - 02:10pm
http://www.multichannel.com/distribution/google-fiber-eyes-34-market-expansion/148393
In a move that will likely simmer any more talk that Google Fiber is
simply an experiment and not a true business in the making, Google took
the gloves off Wednesday by announcing it is “exploring” the idea of
bringing its 1-Gig platform and video service bundles to an additional
nine metro markets and up to 34 cities.
Google said it will use a two-step process to help it determine which
cities will get the goods, and plans to announce its selections by the
end of 2014. Here’s a list of the cities that the company has invited to
join the Google Fiber club, and who the primary wireline competitors are
in each:
Atlanta, including Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, College Park, Decatur,
East Point, Hapeville, Sandy Springs, and Smyrna (Comcast and AT&T)
Charlotte, N.C. (Time Warner Cable, AT&T)
Nashville, Tenn. (Comcast, AT&T)
Phoenix, including Scottsdale and Tempe (CenturyLink Communications, Cox
Communications)
Portland, Ore., including Beaverton, Hillsboro, Gresham, Lake Oswego,
and Tigard (Comcast, Frontier Communications, and CenturyLink)
Raleigh-Durham, N.C., including Carrboro, Cary, Chapel Hill, Garner, and
Morrisville (TWC, AT&T)
Salt Lake City, Utah (Comcast, CenturyLink)
San Antonio (TWC, AT&T)
San Jose, Calif., including Santa Clara, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and
Palo Alto (Comcast, AT&T)
They are all poised to join the current crop of Google Fiber markets –
Kansas City, Mo.; Kansas City, Kan.; Provo, Utah; and Austin, Texas
(starting mid-2014).
Based on Google Fiber’s new invitation cities, it’s clearly avoiding
Verizon Communications FiOS while also targeting relative warm-weather
markets where Google Fiber can build year-round or almost year round.
“And now that we’ve learned a lot from our Google Fiber projects in
Kansas City, Austin and Provo, we want to help build more ultra-fast
networks,” Milo Medin, VP, Google Access Services, said in this blog
post announcing the plan to invite nine U.S. metros to join the Google
Fiber club.
He said Google Fiber, which has plans to offer speeds up to 10 Gbps,
will provide updates on its selection process throughout the year as it
plans to work with city leaders to map out proposed plans and to “assess
what unique local challenges we might face.” Google Fiber, Medin added,
plans to study factors that could affect construction, including
topography, housing density and the condition of the local infrastructure.
Google Fiber’s two-planning process includes a city-provided
“fiber-ready checklist” with info to help Google plan out the
construction and speed up planning, taking into account the area’s
network of poles, conduit, and water, gas and electricity lines.
Like its initial slate of projects, Google Fiber is also seeking help
with permits and access to local infrastructure that can help to
“streamline” the process. “We’re asking cities to ensure that we, and
other providers, can access and lease existing infrastructure. It would
be wasteful and disruptive to put up duplicate utility poles or to dig
up streets unnecessarily, when we could use existing poles or conduit,”
the FAQ explains.
The other part of the process involved the scoping out of the costs and
timeline for the buildout of the fiber network aided by studies that
cover factors that could affect construction plans, such as topography,
housing density and the condition of local infrastructure.
And if cities won’t play ball or the technology and construction stars
don’t align properly, Google Fiber won’t push forward.
“If a city doesn’t want to proceed with us and chooses not to complete
their checklist, we won’t be able to bring them Google Fiber,” the FAQ
adds. “There are also some physical characteristics of a city that might
make it really complex for us to build Google Fiber. For example,
underground construction might be really difficult due to bedrock or
unusually hard soil.”
Google said discussions with these new cities will not affect its
current operations in Kansas City, Provo and Austin.
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