Have you been patiently waiting for the super-fast cloud of gigabit internet to pass over your home city? Well, if you live in one of the 9 new metro areas that Google wants to string up with Google Fiber, you may be in luck. It is these 9 metropolitan regions, encompassing 34 cities, that have been invited to “work with [Google] to explore what it would take to bring them Google Fiber†says Milo Medin, VP of Google Access Services on Google’s official blog. Cooperation of city governments like those of Nashville, TN and Portland, OR means they will be the next cities that Google will evaluate for Google Fiber installation. For those of you who have moved your desk into that one corner of the house where the internet is super fast (mine is called The Hot Corner), your days of displacement might soon be over.
The map above shows both the current and potential Google Fiber cities. New Yorkers and Los Angelenos can finally complain about the same thing – no Google Fiber! (Google)
Google Fiber offers internet service that can hit speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second, which is a full 100x faster than the majority of high speed networks – even if those networks are being accessed in The Hot Corner. With these blazing speeds, one could download a feature length movie in under a minute. Apocalypse Now Redux (202 minutes) would presumably take a few moments longer.
The original cast of Google Fiber cities was limited to Kansas City, Austin, and the sprawling urban metropolis that is Provo, UT. The governments of many other US cities are eager to join the party. Medin cites many city mayors who have identified easy access to high-speed internet as “essential for sparking innovation, driving economic growth and improving education.†One ambitious mayor, Julian Castro of San Antonio, even said that he wants every school to have gigabit internet speed by 2020.
In figuring out exactly how to bring Google Fiber to these nine new areas, Google will be conducting studies on any issues that may affect construction in each city. Things like housing density and problematic topography (hills, flood zones, active volcanoes, etc.) may limit the kind of construction necessary to install the fibers. So that Google knows where they can safely bury the fibers, cities will also have to provide Google with maps showing the locations of underground conduits, gas lines, and any sleeping War of the Worlds tripods they’ve located.
Before you get too jealous of these lucky 34 cities, know that it’s not a guarantee that they will end up getting Google Fiber, just that they’ll be “reviewed,†in a sense. If too many of the aforementioned issues present themselves, it might mean installing the fibers becomes impossible. Google hopes to release the finalists by the end of 2014.
If you’re a Nerdist reader in one of these potential Google Fiber cities or one of the cities already rigged up with Google Fiber, please feel free to shove it it everyone’s face in the comment section below!
AMC is not available on Google Fiber TV. I switched to Google Fiber in October 2013, and am annoyed that I can’t watch The Walking Dead, The Talking Dead, Comicbook Men, etc. And anyonr getting the shows through Torrents gets emails about it. Google Fiber customers can’t watch AMC legally or illegally.
“So that Google knows where they can safely bury the fibers, cities will also have to provide Google with maps showing the locations of underground conduits, gas lines, and any sleeping War of the Worlds tripods they’ve located.” Sounds like Google is just after your data for another layer of their Map to me.
Stream it yoy have gig speed
As a Kansas Citian I do have to warn all Nerdist about one very huge problem with Google Fiber… it doesn’t have AMC, i.e. no Walking or Talking Dead.
Just to be clear, Google Fiber in Kansas City is limited to a very narrow section of city. It is not available in the suburbs like Independence, or Lee’s Summit or even Overland Park. I would say that there are not nearly as many users as there would like to be.
That area is growing every day, it takes time to put in a brand new set of lines everywhere.
No thanks, we already have EPB in Chattanooga! Gig city!