Google is taking their huge line of products to a whole new level. The company launched their own kind of Internet and TV service called Google fiber in October of 2012.
The company announced the new project in February of 2010. The first customers of what Google is calling a “Fiberhood,” a 250 to 1,500 home area that is service ready, was just connected in October in Kansas City, Kan. As of today, the service is also available in Kansas City, MO and Google plans to expand the service to northern and southern sections of the city this winter.
Google has plans to be aggressively installing it’s necessary fiber-optic network cables this year. This an exciting corner that the Internet market is taking and having a mega-company like Google leading the way, the possibilities are endless.
As of now, Google is offering a free Internet service plan that is the same (up to 5Mbps) as today’s average residential speeds. The free service would be guaranteed for at least 7 years. However, you will need to pay a one-time fee of $300 to set it all up for you. Now for the super speed freaks out there, Google is offering, what they call a Gigabit Internet service, for only $70 a month. This is nearly 100 times faster than what you pay about the same for now. The cool part is, Google waives the $300 set up fee for this service. You can get TV service added on for only $50 more a month and Google gives you a Nexus 7 tablet as your remote control. How cool is that?
I’m a tech lover, so hearing all this makes my mouth water. The bad thing is, who knows when Google plans to install a “Fiberhood” in Darke County. I will say, this may jump start a chain reaction with the service providers out there now to upgrade what they offer.
To get a better idea about this new ultra-high speed product, log on to fiber.google.com
Clinton Randall is the Webmaster of advocate360.org and can be reached by email at clintonrandall@dailyadvocate.com. You can find him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/clintonrandall or follow him on Twitter @clintonjrandall. His column, Tech Talk, discusses all aspects of the technology world. Viewpoints expressed in this column are solely those of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.