Google Fiber Plans to Expand Gigabit Internet to 34 New Cities

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11 points·webandrew··6 comments

This is misleading. 34 new cities in 9 metro areas are being evaluated for Google Fiber. This is far different than Google planning on delivering fiber to all 34 of these cities, like the article makes it seem.

Here is the information directly from Google: https://fiber.google.com/newcities/

> Utah executive Christian Faulconer said, “Recording eight shows at once is, to be honest, a dream come true for me,

That quote made me double-check this wasn't The Onion.

Seriously, it's interesting that this includes no cities in the Northeast or the upper Midwest. I wonder what the reasons are.

Likely current infrastructure along with receptive local governments. Some cities/major metropolitan areas may have special contracts with ISPs to only allow them to sell service to their area. I know that Comcast has a serious hold of the Midwest with AT&T trailing behind and Time Warner Cable has the Northeast.

Likely cost as well. Construction can get expensive in the northeast, particularly when weather is bad.

The Northeast has several FIOS franchises. As for the upper Midwest, it's sparsely populated with few big cities.

Apparently it still is not a better business proposition for Big Content to buy their own network.

At some point, Big Network's disinterest in being a network provider) will force Big Content or (heaven forfend) Big Government to move into the network space.

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