Google announced recently that it will be expanding its super fast Internet and TV service Google Fiber to about 34 U.S. cities.
Google Fiber, the high speed broadband network that runs through fiber optic wires and offers Internet 100 times faster than any average U.S. service, will be made available in the metro areas of Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, and San Jose.
Other cities set to receive Google Fiber service soon are:
Arizona - Scottsdale, Tempe
California- Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto
Georgia- Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, College Park, Decatur, East Point, Hapeville, Sandy Springs, Smyrna
North Carolina - Carrboro, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Garner, Morrisville,
Oregon - Beaverton, Hillsboro, Gresham, Lake Oswego, Tigard
Tennessee - Nashville-Davidson
Google Fiber is already up and running in Kansas City, Ka., Provo, Utah and Austin, Texas. The service costs $70 a month for 1-gigabit Internet and $300 for installation. According to Time Magazine, besides being super fast and cheap, the service's uber-efficient customer service further separates Google Fiber from the crowd.
Anyone can request Google to consider his or her city by submitting a request. But first, the web giant needs information about already existing infrastructure and permission to lease the infrastructure. They also need confirmation that a city can handle a big-scale project like Fiber and the complicated permit process that comes with the enormity of the venture.
Check out more FAQs about Google Fiber here.
The venture is one of the search engine's several attempts to diversify. And according to at least one expert, it just might work.
"Google Fiber is an attempt by Google to build a profitable, stand-alone business. It may not make a huge difference for Google or for the incumbents in the next one, two or three years, but Google is taking the long view and we think in five or more years, it could turn out to be a significant, profitable business for Google and headwind for incumbents," Carlos Kirjner of Bernstein Research wrote in a research report.
