A new ultra-fast, high speed Internet service at a cost-friendly price
On Thursday Google Inc. announced its release of their upcoming broadband Internet service Google Fiber to the Kansas City area for $70 per month. For added T.V. service, it is an additional $50.
Google Fiber is experimenting with optical fibers, bypassing local cable and phone companies. Google is claiming Internet speeds to be up to “one gigabit per second,” making it 100 times faster than other U.S. broadband connections. Google’s T.V. service is to provide “cable-T.V.-like” over fiber optics, as well, supplying customers with an expansive selection of channels. Channels not included in the service are ESPN, HBO, AMC and Fox.
Other cool Google Fiber features are a tablet for a remote (Google’s Nexus 7 tablet—retailing for up to $200 and the next best t thing to an iPad), DVR service, and one terabyte of Google drive storage.
Google is even providing consumers another option from the bundled service. If the $70 gigabyte speed and T.V. service is too much, Google is offering it’s customers a basic five-megabit “DSL-like” service for free—only stipulation is a flat $300 construction fee that will guarantee users free Internet connection for up to seven years.
Not everyone was too pleased with the Google’s broadband advancement. According to the Associated Press, Time Warner Cable spokesman, Justin Venech said he didn’t see “too many things that jumpted out at me beyond the speed.”
Adding on that “Kansas City has been competitive for video and broadband services for a long time…We offer advanced products and services today and we have experienced local employees delivering local services,” Venech said.
At a news conference held by Google in Kansas City, city mayor Sly James was pleased to announce the prospects the service may have to the city.
“We now have an opportunity to take a giant step and if we don’t it’s all on us. It’s going to be a great educational tool…That’s going to create innovators and entrepreneurs, and that’s exactly what we want,” announced James.
The faster speeds will not only be beneficial to day-to-day Internet activities, such as surfing the Web, e-mail, and watching videos, but better online back ups and sharing heavy files. Google is hoping this will encourage further development of advanced applications that will utilize the high speeds.
“Access speeds have simply not kept pace with the phenomenal increases in computing power and storage capacity that’s spurred innovation over the last decade,” Milo Medin, Google’s vice president of Access Services wrote in a blog post.
