Google Fiber (NASDAQ: GOOG) has named San Antonio as the next destination where it will bring its 1 Gbps-capable FTTH service, one of the largest cities in its growing service footprint.
Similar to other cities where it is in the process of launching the 1 Gbps service, the next step is to come up with a design plan to build out the network. To support the service, Google said it will lay over 4,000 miles of fiber throughout the city.
"Soon, we'll enter the design phase of building our fiber network in San Antonio," said Mark Strama, Head of Google Fiber, Texas, in a blog post. "We'll work closely with city leaders over the next several months to plan the layout of over 4,000 miles of fiber-optic cables -- enough to stretch to Canada and back -- across the metro area."
The service provider was given the green light to launch its FTTH service at the end of June when it was granted a license from the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) to operate as an ISP in San Antonio's city limits. In addition to San Antonio, Google Fiber got permission to bring their 1 Gbps fiber-to-the-home service to Tempe, Ariz., as the city council voted to unanimously approve their agreement.
San Antonio appears to be a good target for a 1 Gbps service as it has fast become a new technology hub. Some of the city's technology initiatives include Bexar BiblioTech, the first all-digital public library in the U.S., while hundreds of starts up have decided to locate in Austin through collaborative workspaces and accelerators like Geekdom and Cafe Commerce.
However compelling Google Fiber's service may be, a number of residents in Kansas City, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo., have complained that they are still waiting for service to be turned up in their communities.
One Google Fiber employee said in a Motherboard article that one user who signed up for the service last week, who has been wired for the service, probably won't be actually connected to the network until the end of this year.
Google Fiber acknowledged the community's frustration about the slow pace of the rollout, but added that because they are building a new network from scratch there are a number of unforeseen issues, like weather, that can delay connecting users.
"Google Fiber is building an entirely new fiber network," said a Google spokesperson in a Motherboard article. "That means we're installing thousands of miles of fiber optic cable throughout Kansas City, and that's a really big job. Once residents sign up for service, we work to complete installations as quickly as possible. However, construction work is often complex and unpredictable. Sometimes timelines become longer than anticipated due to circumstances outside of our control, such as weather."
For more:
- see this blog post
- Motherboard has this article
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