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Google Fiber Austin

fiber.google.com

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Re: Google Fiber Austin

#41

Post by usefulcat »

exelius wrote: post #32
oimaz wrote: post #3

It is sad that silicon valley has been so slow to adopt google fiber

I doubt you'll ever really see Google Fiber much outside the neighborhoods in downtown Austin (and maybe some up north). This fits the engagement model they've used in other cities where they wire up the dense / wealthy areas and never get around to the rest of the city. Which is also what Verizon, AT&T and Comcast do. The neighborhoods in Austin getting Google Fiber already have U-Verse and TimeWarner Cable.

From an email I received 30 minutes ago:

"Sign-ups are beginning today in South and Southeast Austin. We’re starting with these neighborhoods, and will be opening new areas on an on-going basis."

Also, I'm pretty sure that TWC is available pretty much everywhere in Austin.

Re: Google Fiber Austin

#42

Post by mmanfrin »

jseliger wrote: post #22
oimaz wrote: post #3

It is sad that silicon valley has been so slow to adopt google fiber

AT&T couldn't even roll out U-Verse in San Francisco: http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/att-ordered-stop-u-verse-... , and it's among the hardest cities in the U.S. to build any physical infracture: http://www.citylab.com/housing/2013/10/san-francisco-exodus/... . As demand for housing the bay area rises supply remains constant, leading to dramatic price increases. These are political problems and they have politica…

I think it's less an issue of politics and more an issue of corporate inaction. SF has a tremendous amount of dark fiber already and the city is pushing hard for a proposal called 'Dig Once' that will make it a requirement to lay fiber on any utility/sewer/roadwork more than a few blocks:

http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/san-francisco-seeks-t...

Re: Google Fiber Austin

#43

Post by shittyanalogy »

Damn, one time $300 fee for "Up to" 5 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. That's like getting free internet for 6 and a half years[1] from current providers after 6 months. And if you want to upgrade you've already got the hardware.

I wonder what the minimum time of undercutting at a loss service they can offer is without it being considered anti-competitive.

[1] They guarantee 7 years of free service https://fiber.google.com/cities/austin/plans/#plan=free

Re: Google Fiber Austin

#44

Post by wmf »

exelius wrote: post #36
cmsmith wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is sad that with all the would-be entrepreneurs flocking to Silicon Valley and looking for startup ideas, they all shy away from 'hard' problems like disrupting the current ISP model.

There are many types of hard problems. Some are hard because the data just isn't there, and someone needs to connect the dots. The ISP model is hard because it just requires fucking shit tons of money to solve, and there's no getting around the tragedy of the commons problem. With telecom infrastructure, you can either use wired (expensive and with a heavily fragmented regulatory environment) or wireless (expensive w…

BTW, speaking of gigabit disruption in San Francisco: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gigabit-wireless-to-the-h...

Re: Google Fiber Austin

#45

Post by baddox »

intopieces wrote: post #39
baddox wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. I have U-verse in Soma. Apparently my apartment building has a "deal" with AT&T so that no other TV/Internet providers can work there. And if you're curious, the U-verse Internet plans are awful.

That's surprising. I thought the FCC banned those types of deals: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/05/federal-court-uph...

I don't know the details, but apparently the deal had something to do with the wiring of the building when it was constructed in 2008. There have been resident meeting discussing the issue, and apparently the only way to support other ISPs is to pay for new separate wiring in the building, which I'm sure the building management will not do (given the housing demand situation in SF).

Re: Google Fiber Austin

#46

Post by knodi123 »

bretthoerner wrote: post #12
justaman wrote: post #6

I still think Google is at risk of forming a monopoly and are at risk of becoming Bell 2.0. Unfortunately due to the lack of quality ISP's, the first to offer residential fiber to the perimeter will rapidly absorb the market.

Maybe in some areas. Here in Austin AT&T, Time Warner and the local ISP Grande are all now offering cheap plans from 300Mbps to full gigabit because Google is coming to town and they need to compete. I pay something around $50 for 300Mbps (no cap) from Time Warner and it works great.

yep, that's been my experience too. google fiber forced the entrenched providers to become competitive. now, they have become competitive, and I have no clear motivation to switch to google fiber.

I may still switch, but I'm about a half mile away from the "sign up now" zones.

Re: Google Fiber Austin

#47

Post by chrisabrams »

intopieces wrote: post #39
baddox wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. I have U-verse in Soma. Apparently my apartment building has a "deal" with AT&T so that no other TV/Internet providers can work there. And if you're curious, the U-verse Internet plans are awful.

That's surprising. I thought the FCC banned those types of deals: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/05/federal-court-uph...

They did. I, however, also lived in one of those buildings in SOMA for a few years (after '09).

Re: Google Fiber Austin

#48

Post by jusben1369 »

justaman wrote: post #6

I still think Google is at risk of forming a monopoly and are at risk of becoming Bell 2.0. Unfortunately due to the lack of quality ISP's, the first to offer residential fiber to the perimeter will rapidly absorb the market.

Maybe I'm wrong but I think this is as big a threat to the incumbents as a Nexus phone is to Samsung. Go look at the cities where Google is threatening to launch. Pretty soon the other players start touting fibre coming soon. Happened here in Raleigh/Durham. Google wants faster/better X and enters the market to scare crappy incumbents to up their game.

Re: Google Fiber Austin

#49

Post by exelius »

usefulcat wrote: post #41
exelius wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt you'll ever really see Google Fiber much outside the neighborhoods in downtown Austin (and maybe some up north). This fits the engagement model they've used in other cities where they wire up the dense / wealthy areas and never get around to the rest of the city. Which is also what Verizon, AT&T and Comcast do. The neighborhoods in Austin getting Google Fiber already have U-Verse and TimeWarner Cable.

From an email I received 30 minutes ago: "Sign-ups are beginning today in South and Southeast Austin. We’re starting with these neighborhoods, and will be opening new areas on an on-going basis." Also, I'm pretty sure that TWC is available pretty much everywhere in Austin.

TWC is, but U-Verse isn't. Most places in Austin (specifically apartment buildings) your only option is TWC (or Grande, if you're in a Grande area).

If you look at other cities (Kansas City) only a fraction of the city (the denser, wealthy area) actually has the service 2 years later. Other large areas have been carved out entirely. Construction is "ongoing" in a number of areas but service remains unavailable. Half of the city hasn't even opened sign-ups yet - nearly 4 years after the initial announcement. A large part of KC that does have service was because Google purchased an existing fiber to the home network that already served that area.

By and large, Google Fiber is a big promise that's proving pretty tough to deliver quickly. Just google for the myriad of delays the project is facing in the cities it's "launching" in. By the time they're done launching in most of these cities by the end of the decade, the cable/telco companies will have gigabit service available in most of their markets.

Re: Google Fiber Austin

#50

Post by JoshTriplett »

shittyanalogy wrote: post #43

Damn, one time $300 fee for "Up to" 5 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. That's like getting free internet for 6 and a half years[1] from current providers after 6 months. And if you want to upgrade you've already got the hardware. I wonder what the minimum time of undercutting at a loss service they can offer is without it being considered anti-competitive. [1] They guarantee 7 years of free service https://fiber.goog…

Once you've paid for the equipment, I suspect that price isn't actually a loss for Google. The bandwidth would be dirt cheap compared to gigabit ($0.35/month scaled down linearly from the gigabit rate of $70/month), and I wouldn't find it at all surprising if they make that much on the average Internet user.
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