Google Chooses Provo

[cdowis]

Google will take over a troubled municipal fiber-optic system and make Provo, Utah, the third city to get its high-speed Internet service via fiber-optic cables, the company announced Wednesday.

Google Fiber was rolled out in Kansas City, Mo., last year. The Mountain View, Calif., company announced earlier this month it will make Austin, Texas, the second city to get ultra-fast Internet service.

The Provo deal is the first time Google plans to acquire an existing fiber-optic system. The city of 115,000 created the fiber-optic network, iProvo, in 2004. It planned to operate the system itself for Internet, television and phone service but found the operation too daunting and turned it over to a succession of private partners that have struggled to break even.

A Google official said the company will offer basic Internet service at no charge to Provo residents, who can opt to pay for service up to 200 times faster. The system also provides cable or satellite TV service.

"Once connected, Provo will be one of the first cities in the world where access to broadband will flow like water or electricity," Kevin Lo, general manager of Google Fiber, said Wednesday.

The rollout is an expensive undertaking and gamble for Google, which hopes it will drive innovation and pressure phone and cable companies to improve their networks. Google benefits when people spend more time online.

Provo officials said Google will charge customers a $30 activation fee. The free service provides speeds of 5 megabits per second. Google didn't say how much it planned to charge for faster service, but it would hook up schools, hospitals and libraries to the faster service at no charge.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/04/18/google-chooses-provo-utah-fiber/#ixzz2QpoonMos

[Robert F. Smith]

It's a very good thing that Provo City actually installed fiber optic cable throughout the city years ago, and that Google can see the wonderful opportunity it provides. I just had to cancel my Comcast internet service in Provo simply because it became too expensive. I went with a 4G network for a third of the Comcast price (FreedomPop). Not as good, but adequate.

[sweetpotatoh]

I get internet through Time Warner Cable. I pay 62 bux a month for it. It is fast and we can stream video to 3 devices and still not lag. I think it is awesome that Google is doing this. It could attract more businesses and will hook up all of the schools which will be great for education.

Cable is going the way of the dinosaur and newspapers. I recently got rid of my cable and just have the net. I stream through apple tv and we get all of our shows in, between netflix, hulu plus and the internet. Cable companies have to adapt or they will fail. The one thing that would bring me back would be an ala cart menu. Just get the stations I want and not pay an arm and a leg for them. I wonder how cheap they could go and still be profitable?

I paid 100 bux for apple tv. I pay 17.00 bux a month for netflix and hulu plus. Cable was costing me over 200.00 per month plus I still paid for netflix. For the cost of less than half a months cable charge we got an apple tv and that is one time charge. I am also slowly converting my movie collection to the cloud. No more scratched and lost DVD's. I don't have to store them or lug them around when we move. In fact my dvd's are on a shelf in the back of the closet collecting dust.