Google is rolling out ultra-high speed fiber in Kansas City. According to Mountain View rep Milo Medin, the service is 100 times faster than today’s average broadband.
“No more buffering. No more loading. No more waiting. Gigabit speeds will get rid of these pesky, archaic problems and open up new opportunities for the web,” Medin wrote in an official blog post.
“Imagine: instantaneous sharing; truly global education; medical appointments with 3D imaging; even new industries that we haven’t even dreamed of, powered by a gig.”
Google has divided Kansas City into small communities dubbed “fiberhoods.” To take advantage of the fiber roll out, residents are required to pre-register for the uber-fast Internet service. The fiberhoods with the highest pre-registration percentage will get Google Fiber first.
The cost? $70 per subscriber, per month. Those interested in snapping up a combined Internet + cable package will be charged $120 a month, while a slower Internet option with no monthly fee will be available for subscribers who pay a hefty $300 installation fee.
“[Clearly], the Internet is not as fast as it should be. While high speed technology exists, the average Internet speed in the U.S. is still only 5.8 megabits per second (Mbps)—slightly faster than the maximum speed available 16 years ago when residential broadband was first introduced,” Medin noted.
“Access speeds have simply not kept pace with the phenomenal increases in computing power and storage capacity that’s spurred innovation over the last decade, and that’s a challenge we’re excited to work on.”
