More than 30 more cities could get Google Fiber treatment in the not-too-distant future.
Google announced via its official Google Fiber page Wednesday that there are plans in the works to bring Google Fiber to 34 US cities in 9 major metropolitan areas soon. The new cities include San Jose, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; and Salt Lake City, Utah, among others. Unfortunately, major American cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles continue to be left out in the cold.
At this point, Google Fiber is available in just two US cities: the Kansas City metro area, and Provo, Utah. Austin, Texas, will get access to Google Fiber later this year.
Here’s the full list of current (green) and potential (red) Google Fiber cities:
Currently, Google Fiber offers both Internet and TV service with its top-tiered plan. Here’s how the current pricing and service plans break down for Kansas City-based customers, just to give you an idea of what future Google Fiber cities could be getting, courtesy of Google.
Google has yet to hammer out the details and logistics with the governments in each of the new locales. Given the subpar state of broadband service in the US, however, we suspect that demand for Google Fiber – regardless of the city – will be so intense that government and industry will do their best to make sure the service arrives without delay, as it would likely be a win-win proposition residents, businesses, and communities in general. In Kansas City, for example, the arrival of Google Fiber spawned job-creating startups, and gave consumers another Internet service provider to choose from, which increased competition and improved services overall.
Milo Medin, VP of Google Access Services had this to say about the announcement, via an official blog post.
“We aim to provide updates by the end of the year about which cities will be getting Google Fiber. Between now and then, we’ll work closely with each city’s leaders on a joint planning process that will not only map out a Google Fiber network in detail, but also assess what unique local challenges we might face. These are such big jobs that advance planning goes a long way toward helping us stick to schedules and minimize disruption for residents.”
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