Google Fiber Expands to Four Southeastern Cities

Running at gigabit speeds, Google claims its service is 100 times faster than typical broadband service, and available at a competitive price. Google began its fiber venture in 2010, and now serves three metropolitan areas: Provo, Austin, and Kansas City. The four southeastern announced this week are next in line, and the company is currently studying Phoenix, Portland, San Jose, Salt Lake City and San Antonio for future expansion. 

A timeline is not available yet, though the company is asking local residents to verify addresses on its dedicated fiber web site, which will help with infrastructure planning.

Google’s hesitancy in announcing project completion date is understandable, as utility infrastructure can become technically and politically complex, especially when navigating multiple jurisdictions. Google notes on its web site that construction work will involve 'stringing and laying,' which refers to both an aerial and underground configuration. Many U.S. cities ban new overhead wiring for aesthetic and reliability reasons, and yet utilities can often work around this limitation if activities are classified as maintenance-related.

Whether Google can take advantage of similar loopholes and join existing telecommunications utilities on increasing crowded utility poles remains to be seen. Burying cable underground is much more costly than overhead, and often prohibitively expense over long distances. And yet the cost-effective overhead option could also be risky, as splicing fiber cables to accommodate redevelopment can degrade transmission speed over time.

Splicing fiber is also more difficult and expensive than traditional copper cable as is common in electrical wiring. In many cases property owners face high costs if relocation of aerial utilities is required for certain development activity, which is a common strategy for improving road corridors.