Google Jabs TWC, Tells Cities To Make Fiber Rollout Easier

Consumers are tired of shelling out relatively high figures for slow Internet speeds, and Google Fiber has long been the glimmer of light on the horizon promising better things for the digital generation. Still, its launch has been metered and to those waiting for it to come their way, every aspect of the rollout appears to be painfully slow, from selecting where it will arrive next to getting it finally up and running. A Google executive recently told cities that if they want Fiber, they're going to need to make the process easier...taking a jab at Time Warner Cable in the process.

The statement was made earlier this week by Google's Vice President of Access Services at Google Fiber Milo Medin. Said Medin, "If you [cities] make it easy, we will come. if you make it hard, enjoy your Time Warner Cable." Some cities, he said, are hurting their shot at getting Fiber by using archaic technology and failing to provide correct information.

Faxes, for example, are slowing things down. Likewise, cities that are heaping the burden of cumbersome permission processes onto Google are only hurting themselves. Cited also was instances of cities being unable to give correct data about their infrastructures. All these things can hurt a city's chance of attracting Google's attention.

Of course, a city being snubbed by Google Fiber isn't necessarily the city's fault — some places just aren't able to provide the financial incentive to draw in service providers, Fiber among them. So far Google Fiber is up and running for those in Kansas City, Provo, and Austin, and it is a work-in-progress in several other big regions.

SOURCE: GigaOm