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Instead, perhaps it was an attempt by Google to change the industry

I’ve been a happy Verizon FIOS customer for 12 years. For $140 per month I have TV with every pay channel, landline phone and gigabit Internet. The gigabit is relatively recent but I get full gigabit speeds for up and down and it is amazing. I think you’re right that I don’t believe Verizon would’ve offered this at this price without the threat of Google and other competitors.

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Fwiw, $140 is quite a lot. We shared what everyone was paying for Fios here at work. I'm on the upper end of $65 for 50/50 (no TV). The lowest we found was 1G for $40.

the trick seems to be to cancel and sign up again for the new user deals.

Spectrum just jacked up the cost of a similar package to $175 in my region.

spectrum, specifically the 2.4ghz band, where google was looking for wireless alternatives is unlicensed no ?

He was most likely referring to the proper noun "Spectrum", rather than the common noun "spectrum". It's a cable tv/internet company owned by Charter.

FKA Time Warner Cable

FWIW Charter was transitioning to the name Spectrum before the purchase of TWC.

He also mentioned that he gets a TV package.

I believe gigabit is $70 a month stand alone from Verizon.

I'm paying that to Comcast for 25mbit. No competition here.

As I mentioned, the lowest we found here at work was 1Gig for $40.

The $140 includes the $49 “Ultimate Entertainment Pack”. It’s literally every single pay channel. Without that I paid $91 per month for gigabit Internet, TV with Prime channels and Phone.

As I mentioned, the lowest we found here at work was 1Gig for $40.

Google might have made the $70 price point happen. But I’m not sure I’d overstate it. AT&T and Verizon are deploying gigabit in places where Google will never go. Verizon's gigabit upgrade happened after Google had already paused Fiber expansion. Comcast started offering $150/month multi-gig in my town long after that too.

I strongly suspect 5G is instead causing renewed interest in fiber deployment. Comcast wants to get in on a cellular/wifi hybrid service, and for that it needs backhaul.

Verizon plays shenanigans with it's prices though [0]. Initial pricing that skyrockets after 12 months, for example, and other hidden costs.

[0] https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/25/15423998/verizon-70-gigab...

Comcast had data caps on their broadband packages in Nashville until Google Fiber showed up. GF has shown very little expansion here, but the other guys definitely felt it.

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