As you may have heard, Google Fiber is now considering setting up shop in 34 American cities. This is great news for those who love super-fast Internet. Google Fiber uses fiber optic cables instead of traditional copper cables used by most Internet Service Providers, upping connections to around 100 times faster than typical broadband. This could bring Google Fiber, now only available in Provo, Kansas City and Austin, to a total of nine metropolitan areas including Phoenix, San Jose and Portland. Currently, Google Fiber provides speeds of up to one gigabit per second for $70 per month, which Comcast offers Internet of comparable speed for around $400 per month. Notably, Google did not announce plans to launch Fiber in cities that are already served by Verizon Fios, Verizon’s fiber-optic service.
Exciting news for consumers, yes? However, traditional ISPs like Time Warner Cable, Comcast and Verizon are not as happy with this arrangement. These big-business ISPs are putting up a fight, announcing one day after news of the Google Fiber expansion that they will be launching higher-speed Internet. Time Warner Cable announced yesterday that it is introducing Internet service up to six time speedier in Austin at no added cost by the fall. Austin is a Google Fiber city. Also yesterday, Comcast said it would expand fiber-based “Extreme 505” service to Atlanta, Miami and Chicago. The service tops out at 505 mbps. This service was first launched in the Northeast.
In December, the World Economic Forum ranked the U.S. 35th out of 148 countries in terms of bandwidth. We think it’s about time that a fierce competitor came into the game and slapped these slow ISPs into shape.
Via: MarketWatch, Multichannel News, PC World,
Source:New York Times