Newsletter
Remember this – There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling the transmission. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. Sounds familiar right! Well, this is the opening verse to ‘The Outer Limits’ although it also very well could be Google Fiber’s as this is pretty much what Google is trying to do. If you are unfamiliar with the concept then Google Fiber is Google’s take on FTTP (Fiber To The Premises) and their attempt to bring internet and TV services to the home. Yep, Google does not already have enough control and now wants to own your TV services too.
Google Fiber is an interesting proposition…at least for those who can get it. Since its concept launch the actual rolling out of the service has been problematic with no clear indication of when users will get it. It was recently reported that Google had made claims that TV studios were the biggest hurdle stopping (or at least slowing down) the roll-out. However, other issues have added to the slow-down and include more physical and local problems. One of the areas feeling the pressure in particular was Austin, Texas. Austin was originally officially announced as a Fiber location back in April 2013 with customers expected to start receiving the service by the summer 2014. However, as late as April this year Google announced that the Austin roll-out would be delayed to later in the year. So if you are an Austin resident then at least there is some good news for you now.
It seems the roll-out will actually commence in December of this year. Google have informed local media in a meeting held today that the roll-out is expected to take place in South and South-East portions of the city at the beginning of December, with other city-areas following in due course. It is also worth noting that Austin will implement a similar enrollment process to Kansas where areas are split into neighborhoods and these neighborhoods need to ‘majority-rule’ commit to Fiber. The areas that meet Google’s threshold will get the service while those who don’t, wont. It is also lastly worth noting that although prices have not been confirmed there will be a $300 construction fee in place to connect the service to homes which residents will have to pay. To compensate for this Google will offer a basic 10Mbps service for free with no additional monthly fee. Of course, if you want the real power of Google Fiber (and you will) then you will be paying additional monthly fees. At least for now though Austin residents can rest a bit easier knowing Google has not forgot about them.