Google Fiber to conduct small business pilot in Kansas City

Google Fiber's (NASDAQ: GOOG) initial focus of its 1 Gbps fiber to the premises (FTTP) service has been on the residential market, but it looks like it is going to finally begin testing a new small business product in Kansas City, reports the Kansas City Business Journal.

Other than to say the business product is still being developed, the Internet search giant did not provide any specific details about its plans.

"People have been really clamoring for a small business service," said Jenna Wandres, a Google spokeswoman. "We're just in the beginning of figuring out what that product could look like, and that's why we're launching this pilot."

During its upcoming pilot program, the service provider will connect its fiber network to a limited but unspecified amount of Kansas City-area SMBs. It sent an e-mail questionnaire to area businesses asking if they would like to test the product and provide feedback.

Any business that wants the service has to fill out a questionnaire, which includes a company's industry, staff size, network needs, customer interaction, IT services and the name of its current broadband Internet provider, by April 25.

Area businesses have been asked to wait patiently for a fiber-based product since it announced its fiber network build-out strategy during a news conference in July 2012.

For more:
- Kansas City Business Journal has this article

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