Salt Lake City Set To Receive The Google Fiber Treatment

Google Fiber is set to land on Salt Lake City, giving the Utah city a taste of the all-fiber network of the internet search giant that offers high-speed television and internet services. Associate City Manager of the network for Salt Lake City, Devin Baer, revealed through a blog post that the city will join a number of other cities lined up to receive the network. These cities include Nashville, Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte and Atlanta.

The first cities to benefit from the network were Austin, Kansas City and Provo. With the announcement, residents in the next cities to receive the network can look forward to fast internet connectivity. But, it will take some time before the high-speed network can be fully set up in these cities.

Google Fiber is extremely fast with a speed of 1GB per second or 1,000 MB per second. It is faster compared to an average Internet connection. The average broadband speed in the United States is at 34 MB per second, according to Ookla.

Google Fiber is a project of the company aimed at enhancing Internet access across the United States. The internet connection in the US is currently ranked 27th in the world in terms of speed. The main objective of Google is to provide faster Internet connections to individual users as well as business, which is also expected to increase its profits. The company is also hoping that innovation among people using the network will be stimulated.

Google Fiber Coming To Salt Lake City - image credit: slashgear.com

Baer revealed that he witnessed the impact of Google Fiber when he was working in Provo. Web and mobile apps were created by programmers who gathered at DevMountain while new literacy programs within the community were promoted by the United Way of Utah County. He added that the network was also used by the organization “Now I Can” to connect parents with children going through physical therapy in Provo.

But, it takes some time to select the most appropriate city and setting up the technology and infrastructure for the network. The service is limited to neighborhoods that show an interest in the high-speed internet connection.

Since it normally takes one year for Google to establish Google the fiber network within a city, residents Salt Lake City may be able to access the network by 2016.

The webpage of Google for the Salt Lake City rollout shows how the different stages of the network are set up. Google will start designing the network once it is able to determine that the city can support it. This will be followed by the actual construction of the network. Areas with people and businesses requesting access to the network within the city will be targeted by Google.

Google revealed that the network will be established in areas where it is wanted. The small communities with the fiber network are called fiberhoods by Google. The network is set up in areas where a suitable number of people within the fiberhood are interested in the network.

Once the fiberhood expresses its intention, Google will install the service to individual homes and business. The Google Fiber service requires a monthly fee of $70 for a 1GB internet speed while combining TV and internet require a monthly fee of around $130.

Posted by George Daniels on Friday March 27 2015, 9:31 PM EDT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Technology. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0