Google Fiber Arrives In Charlotte With New Data Plans Aimed At Tech Savvy Small Businesses

by Brandon Hill — Wednesday, July 13, 2016, 09:52 AM EDT

Google is really starting to make some inroads with its Fiber high-speed internet service, and the latest city to “see the light” is Charlotte, North Carolina. Google announced this week that residents in the Highland Creek neighborhood will be the first residents eligible to sign up for one of three plans: Fiber 1000 + TV, Fiber 1000, or the entry-level Fiber 100 (priced at $130/month, $70/month, and $50/month respectively).

And in an effort to bring high-speed internet to the “most digitally divided areas,” Google will offer a 25 Mbps version of its service for $15 a month. Residents that live in public or affording housing buildings perhaps get the best deal of all — full gigabit internet speeds at absolutely no charge.

But that’s not all that Google had to offer with its Charlotte announcement; the company is also introducing new data plans aimed specifically at small businesses. The three small business plans offer speeds of 100 Mbps ($70/month), 250 Mbps ($100/month) and 1 Gbps ($250/month).

No matter which plan you select, you’ll receive a network box with gigabit routing and firewall protection along with 13 static IP addresses at no additional cost. In addition, Google’s support team is open 24-7 to address any snags that you may run into with the service.

Small business in the Charlotte area will be the first eligible to sign up for one of the three new plans. If you’d like to see if service is available at your location, you can use this handy tool from Google.

Google also hasn’t forgotten about small businesses that joined the Early Access program, with Google Fiber Product Manager John Shriver-Blake writing, “Eligible small businesses in Kansas City, Provo, Austin, and Nashville will have until July 31^st to sign up under the Early Access program. Beginning August 1^st, 2016, they’ll be able to choose from one of our new plans or keep their Early Access plan and pricing for a full year.”

Now if only Google could hurry up and get Fiber service up and running in the Raleigh-Durham area…

Tags: Google, Google Fiber, (nasdaq:goog)

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

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