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Google Fiber’s longstanding expansion freeze seems to be coming to an end as the service is reportedly getting ready to roll out in Louisville, Kentucky. The Mountain View-based tech giant has allegedly chosen Louisville to have two unique privileges among Fiber-supported cities. First off, it will be the very first city to be set up using Google’s new wireless infrastructure for gigabit internet service through Fiber. Secondly, Louisville will be the city that finally marks the continuation of the service’s expansion. While the possibility of another delay or cancellation hangs heavy over the whole affair, the new wireless technology should make it easier than ever to actually get the deployment off the ground, meaning that this is Louisville’s best chance yet to actually get Google Fiber.
Previously, Louisville had fought other broadband entities over the issue of their “One Touch Make Ready” ordinance, which sought to allow new players such as Google Fiber to take advantage of the groundwork laid by incumbents to help get their networks in place. Louisville had also set aside a number of buildings spread around the area for Google to base Fiber operations out of, but thanks to the new wireless infrastructure that Google will reportedly be using for its expansion to Louisville, those proposed “Fiber Huts” became unnecessary, though each one could have theoretically allowed Google to service 40,000 households.
Because of the “One Touch Make Ready” ruling, Louisville is a key battleground in the fight for a competitive environment in the broadband space. Success here could encourage other districts to enact similar laws, which would make it far easier for new players to jump into the broadband industry. The importance of this series of events to the future of competition in broadband is hard to overstate; many areas only have one or just a few providers to choose from, which consequently leads to price gouging and worse customer service, history has shown. The city of Louisville didn’t have anything to say about the matter outlined above, while Google reportedly assured local authorities that it’s still adamant to launch the service in the city, though only time will tell whether the company finally succeeds in that endeavor.