Google Fiber used Twitter to announce that it has launched the sign-up process in Salt Lake City, Utah, where it will be competing against incumbent providers Comcast and CenturyLink.
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Tenney said other parts of the city would be turned on “in a matter of months and not years”.
Google, Comcast and AT&T were unable to reach an agreement over an impasse over access to utility poles during negotiations led by Mayor Megan Barry’s office Wednesday.
“After we have gotten a payment, we schedule the work and do the construction and we’re pretty much on track to be completing from the time we get payment to the end in four weeks”, Phillips said.
Google will make gigabit Internet available for $70 a month.
Pricing for residential internet service will start at $50 per month for 100 Mbps and $70 per month for gigabit service. There is no data limit in any of the plans. Phone service is available on all packages, for an additional $10 a month.
Google Fiber connections are up to 1,000 megabits per second. They’ve raised the possibility of abandoning Nashville altogether if the legislation doesn’t pass. Comcast has said new legislation isn’t required and AT&T has questioned whether Metro has the authority to make such a change – the basis for a lawsuit the company filed against the Metro Louisville government – and raised concerns about the loss of work for their union laborers.
Under current law, every existing user of a utility pole – most of the city’s poles are owned by NES, but carry wires for telephone, cable and internet service as well – must move their wiring to make room for a new user, a lengthy process. Today the service is being offered in eight cities in the United States with other locations underway. As of 2016, Google Fiber has 54,000 video subscribers and up to 120,000 customers.
Crews begin installing conduit for the Google Fiber network in 2015.
The telco is not the only service provider calling out Google Fiber’s work and claims about Nashville.
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Last June, Google acquired Webpass, a 13-year-old Internet service provider which specializes in high-speed Internet for business and residential customers. Expansion to Huntsville, Alabama has also been announced.
