Google Fiber

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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In the aftermath of Alphabet-induced restructuring, some of Google's former groups and businesses have seemingly been de-emphasized or have gone silent. Of course, that isn't completely the case. Take Google Fiber, for example, which has proceeded surely though slowly, despite seemingly taking a step back in Kansas. And as is if to further prove that it still means business, almost literally, it is swooping up another business. Google Fiber has just agreed to buy San Francisco ISP Webpass, to not only further enhance its ability to provide high-speed fiber Internet, but to also give it an edge in the five cities Webpass operates in, including San Francisco.

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Google has announced that its Fiber TV Box is getting Google Cast, the tech that most people are familiar with via Chromecast. Google Cast has already made its way into some smart TVs, among other devices; the inclusion in Google’s own Fiber TV box isn’t at all surprising and certainly welcomed. With it, owners will be able to cast content from their mobile device to their TV without a separate casting dongle.

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Some things are indeed just too good to last and what can be better than free Internet? That might have been the privilege that Kansas City enjoyed being the first to get Google Fiber. While the service wasn't completely free, as it required a rather hefty but one-time $300 installation fee. Soon, however, it might be good news/bad news for Kansas as Fiber, now directly under Alphabet, reportedly will be waiving the installation fee but, in exchange, will be charging a monthly subscription, but for faster speeds too.

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Today Google announces the Fiber Phone, a service that uses your home internet connection to act as a landline (and your mobile device, too). Just like you had when you were a kid, but VoIP. A phone that stays at home. Or it can go with you - whatever you want. The Fiber Phone "lives in the cloud" says Google, and it'll ring at home when you're at home, or in your pocket when you're out of the house.

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