Google Fiber

When Google Fiber launched in 2010, it was regarded as insane or just another one of Google's short-lived experiments. After all, who needed 1 Gbps Internet anyway? That was, of course, just a little after Netflix launched and before it became the household name that it is today. Fast-forward nine years later, a gigabit Internet service seems almost normal if not barely enough. Which is why Google Fiber will stop offering its 100 Mbps tier that wasn't even cheap in the first place.

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Google has announced that it is bringing gigabit Internet service to Austin, Texas. The launch will involve Webpass, a company acquired by Google Fiber in 2016 after having been founded in 2003. Though Webpass is already available in a handful of other cities, Google says this upcoming launch is notable -- Austin will be the first city where both Webpass and Google Fiber are available.

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Google Fiber is shutting down in Louisville, Kentucky, the company has announced. The decision to pull out of that market was due to ongoing troubles the company has been experiencing, ones that would require it to "essentially rebuild" its entire network to fix. That's not possible, Google Fiber said in its announcement today, and so instead it will be terminating service later this year.

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Google is about to shake things up with its Internet service: Google Fiber won't offer cable TV services when it arrives in San Antonio and Louisville. The company will instead focus on providing its ultra-fast Internet service, a decision that changes the way it has operated thus far (the TV part, that is). This news comes at a time when people are ditching cable in large numbers.

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Alphabet's Q1 2017 earnings report showed that their "Other Bets" category was doing better than this same time last year in revenue. The same chart also showed that Other Bets was doing worse than this time last year - in operating loss. It might seem on the surface like a losing strategy to push more money into parts of the company that could be considered "bets". But Alphabet isn't the sort of company that drops and runs at the first sign of failure.

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Google is bringing super fast Internet service to Denver via Webpass, the company has announced. The Internet service will be made available first at an apartment community via Ethernet, with speeds being available at up to a gigabit per second. This latest addition — the Denver rollout — joins Webpass rollouts in other cities including Boston, Chicago, Berkeley, San Francisco and Oakland, San Diego, and Miami.

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Back in October we heard that Google would be "refining" its approach to its Fiber business. Today, we're getting more details about just what that entails, and in general, it doesn't sound all that great for anyone who was hoping that Google Fiber would come to their city and save them from monolithic ISPs. At the very least, it sounds like Google is planning to scale back significantly when it comes to connecting houses directly with fiber cable.

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Something big is afoot over at Google, which just announced that Google Fiber rollout has been paused in the cities it has selected as 'potential' markets. This is necessary for the company to 'refine' its plan to meet new objectives it has laid out, Google says. In addition, a source has cropped up claiming Google will layoff 9-percent of the workers in 'Access,' the division that deals with Fiber.

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Google Fiber has gone live in Salt Lake City, giving residents in the region the opportunity to sign up for Google’s high-speed and relatively inexpensive gigabit Internet service. Sign-ups are being taken until October 20 of this year; those interested are able to search with their street address to see if it is possible to get service at their home or apartment. Both residential and small business plans are being offered.

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If you've been disappointed by the rather slow roll out of Google Fiber, it would appear you're not alone. Alphabet Inc. seems a little frustrated as well, and as a result, the company will begin looking for alternatives to laying its own cable and building out its network at its current slow pace. These new initiatives would include testing wireless technologies, leasing existing fiber networks, and working with towns and municipalities to get them to lay the fiber networks Google would ultimately use.

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Google Fiber is one of those Goole properties that you can't really divine its goals and future. On the one hand, it helps test Google's technical abilities as well as its clout in the Internet provider industry. On the other hand, the company seems to be doing a "two steps forward, one step back" dance and it's almost impossible to predict where lightning will strike next. Well, according to an uncovered FCC filing, lightning will actually strike 24 locations in the US where Google has requested permission to test its newer, faster wireless technologies.

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Google has revealed new information for small businesses taking advantage of its Fiber internet, signaling the end of the program's early access period. That means we're getting our first look at what internet plans for small businesses will offer, complete with pricing details. Google says it will offer small businesses three different options when it comes to internet speeds, with plans ranging in price from $70 a month to $250 a month.

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