Google Fiber (NASDAQ: GOOG) is once again looking to shake up more of the broadband market, announcing that it's considering bringing its 1 Gbps FTTH service in Chicago and Los Angeles.
What makes these two cities attractive sites to build out fiber is their size. On a combined basis, the two cities are home to over 6 million people, making them the two largest metros Google Fiber has talked to about building out service.
Similar to other cities it has cited as potential targets like Jacksonville and Tampa, Fla., Google will take methodical steps to see whether it's feasible to roll out FTTH in the two cities.
"As we kick off our usual checklist process, we'll work closely with city leaders to collect detailed information about each metro area, From Venice Beach to Wrigley Field, we'll study the different factors that would affect construction -- like city infrastructure and topography -- and use that information to help us prepare to build a local fiber network," said Jill Szuchmacher, director of fiber expansion for Google Fiber, in a blog post.
Although there's no schedule on when residents and business would be able to get service or if Google Fiber will ultimately bring its service to these two areas, the service provider said that both cities are promising candidates.
"Whether it's filmmaking or entrepreneurship or more abundant bandwidth at home, Chicago and L.A. are the perfect cities to show us what's possible with gigabit Internet," Szuchmacher said.
In addition to Chicago and Los Angeles, Google Fiber said in September it was talking to Louisville, Ky., and San Diego. Later in October, it cited Oklahoma City, Jacksonville, and Tampa as three other potential targets.
These new targets join eight other cities that are already under construction -- including Austin, Texas, Provo, Utah, Kansas City, Kan., Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte, N.C., and Nashville. It also has other expansions planned for Phoenix, San Antonio, Portland, Ore., and San Jose.
The service provider's move comes only a day after AT&T (NYSE: T) announced it would expand its own 1 Gbps FTTH service to an additional 38 metro areas, including Los Angeles. Already live in 18 metros, this latest build would more than double its footprint to a total of 56 markets by the end of next year.
For more:
- see this Google Fiber blog post
Related articles:
Frontier challenges AT&T, Google Fiber in Durham, N.C. with fiber, copper-based video bundles
Google Fiber considering Oklahoma City, Jacksonville and Tampa as 1 Gig service targets
Google Fiber suffers outage in Kansas City during World Series Game 1
Google Fiber cites San Jose as next 1 Gbps FTTH stop