Google Fiber
Google Fiber, sometimes stylized as GFiber, is a fiber broadband Internet service operated by Google Fiber Inc.,[2] a subsidiary of Alphabet,[3] servicing a growing number of households in cities in 19 states across the United States.[4] In mid-2016, Google Fiber was estimated to have about 453,000 broadband customers.[5]
Not to be confused with Google Fi Wireless.Area served
28 areas across the contiguous United States
Google (2010–2015)
Access/Alphabet Inc. (2015–present)
February 10, 2010
Active
The service was first introduced to the Kansas City metropolitan area,[6] including twenty Kansas City area suburbs within the first three years. Initially proposed as an experimental project,[7] Google Fiber was announced as a viable business model in December 2012, when Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt stated "It's actually not an experiment, we're actually running it as a business", at The New York Times' DealBook Conference.[8]
Google Fiber announced expansion to Austin, Texas, and Provo, Utah, in April 2013, and subsequent expansions in 2014 and 2015 to Atlanta, Charlotte, Research Triangle, Nashville, Salt Lake City, and San Antonio.[9] GFiber resumed expansion and by early 2024, GFiber also served Huntsville (Alabama), Maricopa County (Arizona), Des Moines and West Des Moines (Iowa), Omaha (Nebraska) among others.
In August 2015, Google announced its intention to restructure the company, moving less central services and products into a new umbrella corporation, Alphabet Inc. As part of this restructuring plan, Google Fiber would become a subsidiary of Alphabet and would possibly become part of the Access and Energy business unit.[10]
In October 2016, all expansion plans were put on hold and some jobs were cut.[11] Google said it would continue to provide Google Fiber service in the cities where it was already installed. Since then, GFiber acquired Webpass to add presence in 5 additional states.
In March 2022, Google Fiber announced it would bring high speed internet to the Des Moines, Iowa, metro area, making it the first expansion in five years.[12][13] GFiber has resumed very active expansion in several new states
In August 2022, Google Fiber announced it would expand into 22 metro areas in five states (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, and Nevada), including previously announced expansions into Mesa, Arizona, and Colorado Springs, Colorado, based on where it felt speeds were lagging.[14] It also announced additional investment in North Carolina.[15] CNET characterized this an example of fast fiber winning the broadband wars.[16]
In October 2023 Google Fiber rebranded to GFiber and announced plans to begin offering 20Gig internet and Wi-Fi 7 hardware in the near future.[17]
Distribution[edit]
In order to avoid underground cabling complexity for the last mile, Google Fiber relies on aggregators dubbed Google Fiber Huts.[24]
From these Google Fiber Huts, the fiber cables travel along utility poles into neighborhoods and homes, and stop at a Fiber Jack (an optical network terminal or ONT) in each home.[25]
The estimated cost of wiring a fiber network like Google Fiber into a major American city was $1 billion in 2016.[26][27]
The initial location was chosen following a competitive selection process.[28] Over 1,100 communities applied to be the first recipient of the service.[29][30] Google originally stated that they would announce the winner or winners by the end of 2010; however, in mid-December, Google pushed back the announcement to "early 2011" due to the number of applications.[31][32][33]
The request form was simple, and, some have argued, too straightforward.[34] This led to various attention-getting behaviors by those hoping to have their town selected.[34] Some examples are given below:
Municipalities and citizens also uploaded YouTube videos to support their bids. Some examples:
Closed and former locations[edit]
Louisville, Kentucky[edit]
In April 2017, Google announced that Google Fiber would start construction in Louisville, Kentucky.[109] Google Fiber got the service to sections of Louisville in five months after it first announced that it would be coming to the city—faster than it had ever deployed before—by using shallow trenching.[110][111] In February 2019 Google announced it would shut down service on April 15.[112] Prior to departing, Google Fiber service was criticized for disruptive infrastructure installations and poor workmanship.[113] Google agreed to pay $3.8 million for clean up.[114]
Possible future expansion[edit]
2014[edit]
In February 2014, Google announced it had "invited cities in nine metro areas around the U.S.—34 cities altogether—to work with us to explore what it would take to bring them Google Fiber."[115]
The remaining metropolitan areas where Fiber has not yet begun constructing are: Phoenix, Portland, San Antonio and San Jose.[115] Of these, the following have yet to be selected by Google for fiber deployments:[116]
Acquisition of Webpass[edit]
On June 22, 2016, Google Fiber bought Webpass, an Internet service provider that has been in business for 13 years and specializes in high-speed Internet for business and residential customers. They have a large presence in California and specifically the Bay Area as well as San Diego, Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Chicago, Denver, and Boston. The deal closed in October 2016.[124][125]
Prohibition of servers[edit]
When first launched, Google Fiber's terms of service stated that its subscribers were not allowed to create any type of server:
"Your Google Fiber account is for your use and the reasonable use of your guests. Unless you have a written agreement with Google Fiber permitting you do so, you should not host any type of server using your Google Fiber connection, use your Google Fiber account to provide a large number of people with Internet access, or use your Google Fiber account to provide commercial services to third parties (including, but not limited to, selling Internet access to third parties)."[130]
The Electronic Frontier Foundation criticized the practice, noting the ambiguity of the word "server" which might include such common application protocols as BitTorrent, and Spotify, as well as the effect of and on IPv6 adoption due its lack of NAT technical limitations on network servers, but also noted similar prohibitions from other ISPs such as Comcast, Verizon, Cox, and AT&T.[131]
In October 2013, the acceptable use policy for Google Fiber was modified to allow "personal, non-commercial use of servers".[132][133]