Plans For GoogleFiber Cause Concerns

Google Inc.’s partly free Internet service has been lauded for helping to close the digital divide in Kansas City, but a local broadband advocacy group is concerned that the coming service actually may widen it.
Kansas City, Kan., volunteer organization Connecting for Good Inc. plans to hit up Google for highly discounted or free installations based on income for its planned 5-megabit-per-second Internet service in KCK and Kansas City, Mo., later this year. The service is the low-end option of Google’s incoming Internet and TV services, which will feature ultra-fast (1-gigabit) Internet speeds.
A Google spokeswoman said the technology giant was open to conversations with the group. She also noted that the basic service averages out to $3.57 a month during seven years and is extremely affordable.
However, Google’s $300 construction fee for the free service must be paid within 12 months. Monthly payments would total $25.
In a Saturday website post, Connecting for Good wrote, “Our fear is that bringing the ‘super Internet’ to our area would further separate the digital ‘haves’ from the ‘have nots.’”
Connecting for Good President Michael Liimatta said the group also is considering a fundraising campaign to help “the poorest of the poor” afford Google’s bottom-tier Internet service.
On Thursday, Google announced it would provide the service free for seven years to residents willing to pay a $300 construction fee. Google’s signature 1-gigabit service will cost $70 a month, or $120 when bundled with Google Fiber TV service. The services will go to “fiberhoods” that express enough interest — in the form of $10 pre-registration by enough residents in the area — during a six-week rally.
As of about 2 p.m. Monday, 34 fiberhoods had met their Google-determined pre-registration goals, most of them on the Missouri side of the state line.
“So far, many poorer urban core neighborhoods are expressing interest in Google fiber at a slower rate than middle- and higher-income neighborhoods,” The Kansas City Star wrote in a Sunday editorial.
See the current pre-registration results on the Google Fiber website. Click on “show all fiberhoods” for a complete neighborhood rundown.

Checkout GoogleFiber this weekend

The network may not be live yet, but Kansas Citians can check out Google Inc.’s new gigabit service for themselves this weekend.
Google’s “Fiber Space” opens to the public at noon Saturday at 1814 Westport Road.
The space will be open seven days a week, from noon to 8 p.m., for the next six weeks as a way to help residents decide whether they're interested in the network, Google officials said.
A TV with “crystal clear high definition” is on display, along with interactive stations demonstrating the network’s capabilities.
The Fiber Space, which Google recently had refurbished, is part of Google’s “fiberhood” rally. During the rally, residents of Kansas City, Kan., and central Kansas City, Mo., can go online and pre-register for the network. Google says it will light up the 1-gigabit network in neighborhoods that express enough interest.

Kansas City Will Be First To Get GoogleFiber Television

Google Inc. plans to launch GoogleFiber television in the Kansas City area as part of its ultra-fast broadband project, officials announced Thursday, using the rallying cry, "Let's do this for Kansas City."
The service — which is headed for areas of Kansas City, Kan., and central Kansas City, Mo. — will allow users to record as much as 500 hours of shows in high-definition, plus as many as eight shows simultaneously. It will have a Bluetooth remote control and an app with hundreds of channels, plus thousands of shows on demand.
GoogleFiber TV also will be able to interact with social networks, and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is working with local organizations to publish new content, officials said.
Google is using a social rallying technique to determine which "fiberhoods" will receive TV and Internet service first. Residents can urge others in their fiberhoods — which will include roughly 800 neighbors — to go to google.com/fiber and pre-register (for a $10 fee) to meet the minimum goal, which depending on individual areas could be 40 to 80 neighbors. The website will display the status of each area.
The rally ends Sept. 9 and is open to Kansas City, Kan., and central Kansas City, Mo. Afterward, users can finalize their choice of package.
As fiberhoods get Google's service, their schools, libraries, community centers, public safety buildings and government buildings will get free gigabit Internet connectivity. The first rally will link up more than 200 of them, a Google official said.
Google announced three packages for residential users but hinted that packages for businesses would be coming soon.
Many initial customers who sign contracts won't have to pay a $300 construction fee to get fiber to their homes.
The three current options include:

• Gigabit Internet and TV will be available for $120 a month. The package also includes a super hard drive, a terabyte of cloud storage on Google Drive, all major broadcast channels, hundreds of fiber channels and thousands of on-demand videos. The Nexus 7 tablet is included as a remote control. Premium movie channels will be available for a monthly fee.
• Gigabit Internet will be available for $70 a month. It will include a network box and 1 terabyte of cloud storage on Google Drive.
• Regular Internet will be available for free after a one-time $300 construction fee. Those who aren't ready to commit to Google's new service can sign up to have their homes fitted for the service when construction is going on in their neighborhoods. Doing so will get them free Internet access for seven years at today's average speeds, and they'll be prepared to upgrade at any time. The construction fee can be paid upfront or at a rate of $25 a month for the first year.

Google’s plan lets ‘fiberhoods’ determine network’s direction

Google Inc.’s plans to let demand in “fiberhoods” drive where it will light up the network gives up some control to Kansas City, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo.
But the strategy also makes business sense for the technology giant.
By Sept. 9, Google theoretically will know where it makes the most sense to put the network. It will be able to proceed accordingly and much more quickly than if Google had opted for a more piece-meal approach, lowering Google’s overall costs, said Milo Medin, vice president of Google’s Access Services.
“People will sign up, and we can install all of them in a wave,” Medin said.
On Thursday, Google officials launched a six-week rally to determine which Kansas City neighborhoods would receive the highly anticipated network.
Google said it would build and activate the network in places that met predetermined minimum levels of interest.
Google is measuring this interest by the amount of Kansas Citians who go online, pay $10 and pre-register for one of the three Internet packages.
Based on population density and difficulty level of installing the network, Google has set different percentages — ranging from 5 to 25 percent — that neighborhoods must reach to get the service.
Google officials were silent on dollar specifics when asked about overall project costs.
In the past year, industry and community speculation has run wild over how Google would offset expenses if it offered a free Internet service locally.
Thursday’s announced Google Fiber Television product offers some answers. Google’s top-tier package for $120 comes with Internet TV and the caveat that premium channels will carry additional fees.
Google CFO Patrick Pichette said Kansas City had a tremendous opportunity to show the world what a gigabit can do.
But, he said: “There’s no doubt. We’ve done this on a for-profit basis.”

Google plans big announcement in Kansas City

Some of the question marks hovering over Google Inc.’s incoming fiber network in Kansas City, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo., could disappear next week.
“Kansas City: Google Fiber is almost here,” Kevin Lo, general manager of Google Access, wrote in a Wednesday blog. “Look out for more information on July 26th at google.com/fiber.”
Google plans to announce details of the ultra-fast broadband network on July 26, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday. A location hasn’t yet been disclosed for a planned press conference, but details will be made public via a new website, according to a blog from the Google Fiber team. The blog features a short video with photos of Kansas City landmarks and the familiar “Kansas City” tune in the background.
Google has been hush-hush about the exact timing and cost of the network, which neighborhoods it will reach and what the company's intentions are with video services, among other details.
Google officials have referenced this summer announcement during most public inquiries, saying that the company would be more forthcoming with details at that time.