Items tagged with fiber
It happens all too infrequently in the ISP business, but when it does, it's a beautiful thing. We're talking about good, old-fashioned competition, and that's what Google is getting now that AT&T is upping its fiber efforts. After Verizon nixed FiOS expansion a couple of years ago, the only real fiber-to-the-home growth has happened in small towns here and there, and lobbyists are working hard to put those to an end. Finally, AT&T is announcing a "major initiative" to expand its fiber network to 100 candidate cities and municipalities across the United States. The expansion would (in theory) bring 1Gbps access to homes in 21 new major metropolitan areas as well. It's being called U-verse...
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There’s a rumor that Google may jump into the wireless provider game, which would be huge news except for the fact that Google wouldn’t be launching a fifth competing wireless network; it would simply function as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), reselling one of the big four’s services. The rumor comes from The Information (behind a paywall), and according to the site’s sources, Google may partner with Verizon to be an MVNO and launch wireless services in areas that have Google Fiber. Verizon Coverage Map MVNOs are terrific for the industry, and services like Republic Wireless and FreedomPop are doing a great job disrupting pricing and service structures. But...
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The lucky residents of San Antonio in the great state of Texas will probably be next to have access to Google's uber-fast fiber-optic network. As part of a long-term contract, Google will lay down 40 "fiber huts," which are 12-foot by 26-foot communications shelters that contain the infrastructure for Google's fiber-optic gigabit Internet. "What we've seen in other communities in which Google Fiber has moved in is that it lowers the cost of Internet access for everyday consumers," said San Antonio mayor Julián Castro said. "And that's a great thing in a place like San Antonio, where we do still see a significant digital divide." While Google has agreed to serve the area its gigabit network,...
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The advent of gigabit Internet continues its slow-but-steady growth with the news that Bright House Networks is working with the Metro Development Group to bring gigabit Internet to new communities in the Tampa Bay, Florida area. The groups are building new housing developments and will construct them with fiber, pre-wired for gigabit Internet speeds. The homes themselves will be wired, but the neighborhood clubhouses, playgrounds, and even nature trails will have high speed WiFi. Tampa, Florida “Bright House Networks is pleased to join Metro Development Group in this revolutionary project,” said Nomi Bergman, President of Bright House Networks in a statement. “Bright House...
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In Amazing Fantasy #15, an epiphany occurs to Peter Parker after his Uncle Ben is murdered. He learns that "with great power there must also come great responsibility," an altered version of which is later attributed to Ben himself. Regardless of its origin or where you may have first heard the quote, the sentiment applies to all facets of life, not just that of super heroes, and in a way it's being applied by Mozilla in Chattanooga and Kansas City. The browser maker just launched the Mozilla Gigabit Community Fund, a project in partnership with the National Science Foundation (NS) and US Ignite that will support local innovators in the two above mentioned locales as they build real-life open...
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There’s really no other way to say it: BT and Alcatel-Lucent claim that they’ve reached Internet speeds of 1.4Tbps over an existing fiber connection. To be clear, that terabits, not gigabits; we’ve covered a good amount of news related to the latter lately because almost nobody has access to those kinds of speeds as it is. So, yes, terabit Internet speeds. The companies conducted this field trial in the UK, using a fiber link between the BT Tower in London and the company’s Adastral Park research facility in Suffolk. The underlying technology is a flexible grid infrastructure called “Flexgrid” that ups the density of each transmission channel and varies the...
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Google Fiber was far from being the first fiber-to-the-home Internet provider in the United States, but it has no doubt garnered attention in ways that earlier, smaller, more local fiber outfits simply could not. Google Fiber has made the notion of widespread fiber across the U.S. one that isn't so far-fetched, and by developing an ISP that gives everyday consumers access to 1Gbps service at a reasonable rate, other outfits are following suit. Just this week, mobile operator C Spire announced a new project that "promises to transform communities into magnets for investment and economic growth by bringing the technology of tomorrow to thousands of homes in cities, towns and neighborhoods in its...
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When Google first unveiled its 1Gbit fiber Internet service last summer, it seemed unlikely that such speeds would become common anytime soon. However, there was great hope that with Google's pressure, other ISPs would be pushed towards offering their own 1Gbit services. This past April, we did see some evidence of that, with AT&T promising to roll out its own 1Gbit service in the Austin, Texas area. Things don't stop there. It seems that some of the biggest ISPs are being seriously slow to catch onto the 1Gbit option, with Verizon charging a staggering $210 in some areas for a 300Mbit/s connection. The gotcha here is that the upload is 65Mbit/s (as someone with 0.5Mbit/s home upload, it...
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Make all the jokes you want about Nebraska, but that state knows college football, beef, corn, and living the good life, and now its largest city (which is a rapidly growing area, by the way) will be one of the precious few metropolitan areas in the country with gigabit Internet. ISP CenturyLink announced today that it will be piloting a fiber network that will deliver gigabit speeds to some 48,000 homes and businesses on the west side of Omaha. CenturyLink already has a fiber network there, and the company will upgrade it to fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) technology to allow for the high Internet speed. Omaha, Nebraska skyline Those using the service will also have access to CenturyLink’s...
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You know, it's hard to be picky. Google Fiber, or a local fiber company -- so long as the Internet speeds trump those provided by generic coax-based ISPs, who are we to complain? Numerous towns around the nation, including many in Tennessee and even the small town of Wilson, North Carolina, have their own small-scale fiber ISPs. These companies compete directly with the huge cable and DSL providers, and now, also with Google Fiber in a handful of cities around the U.S. But when you think of Vermont, one of the least populated states in the nation, you probably don't think of the world's quickest connection speeds. But maybe you should. Vermont Telephone Company, which covers around 17,500 homes...
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As expected, the Provo Municipal Council unanimously approved the measure regarding bringing Google to town to take over the city’s struggling iProvo fiber network. Google will retrofit the network for its Google Fiber service, which will make the relatively small town of Provo just the third locale with the gigabit Internet and TV service. The Salt Lake Tribune grabbed some more specific details, including confirming that Provo is selling the network to Google for the ceremonial price of one dollar. Google will offer its 5Mbps Internet service to Provo residents for free for 7 years and also ensure that all homes have access to the service. (Whether that means that Google will waive the...
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You know, this is finally starting to feel like a trend. And it's certainly a trend we're happy to get behind. The trend of high(er)-speed Internet is seemingly sweeping the developed world, with fiber-based solutions and ISPs offering 1Gbps+ speeds becoming less of an exception compared to yesteryear. Now, even customers Down Under will soon be able to enjoy the blistering speeds that folks in Kansas City already have access to. Australians will soon be able to thank NBN for installing 1Gbps access, as the network is set to go live prior to the end of 2013. To put this in perspective, a 1Gbps connection could download an entire movie in just seconds. It'd be "several hundred times faster" than...
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Earlier this week, Google suddenly and unexpectedly announced that it was planning to roll out Google Fiber service to Provo, Utah. The city has an existing (though older, and somewhat unfinished) fiber-optic network that Google can apparently just retrofit to suit Google Fiber, which is a much cheaper strategy than building a gigabit infrastructure from scratch. According to the AP, the fiber network initially cost the city $39 million, but it may sell it to Google for one dollar. The smallish city’s residents have been paying $5.35 per month per household in utility bills for about a decade to pay for the network, and the city will keep paying on its construction loan for the project...
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Google announced that the next lucky locale to get Google Fiber service will be Provo, Utah. Instead of starting from scratch and building the infrastructure, the company is in the process of purchasing iProvo, which is a pre-existing fiber-optic network, from the city of Provo. That network, however, is over a decade old, so Google will have to perform upgrades and also finish building out the network to reach all the homes along the network route. There’s one catch, though: the city council has to vote on it. “Our agreement with Provo isn’t approved yet—it’s pending a vote by the City Council scheduled for next Tuesday, April 23, and also is subject to satisfaction...
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