Google expands fiber to the home network in the US

Google has announced plans to provide fiber-optic internet in an additional 34 US cities. Local negotiations must determine which cities will actually have access to a Fiber connection from Google.

The internet giant announced its plans via its weblog. Nine densely populated areas of the United States with 34 cities are on the nomination list for Fiber, Google’s fiber to the home service. These include Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Portland and cities in the Bay Area in California.

According to Google, talks are being held with local authorities to determine which of the 34 cities will actually have access to Fiber. This is probably highly dependent on the interest shown in the cities in question. The plans should be clear before the end of the year. It is the largest announced expansion to date, potentially making Google a major Internet service provider.

Currently, Google offers its Fiber service in Kansas City, but has recently started a rollout to Austin and Provo. The fiber optic connections have a maximum speed of 1 Gbit/s. In addition, it is also possible to watch television for an additional fee and there is a free connection with a maximum download speed of up to 5Mbit/s. With the latter, however, you have to pay 300 dollars in connection costs.