Google Fiber is rolling out close to home for its next city – San Francisco. Google just announced it will bring its super fast Gigabit Internet to “a portion of San Francisco”, notably to apartments, condos and affordable housing.
Details about the precise locations are scarce currently, and the firm suggests that we may have to wait some time for more information.
Google does that that it won’t be building its own network in San Francisco, as it has in many other cities where Google Fiber has launched. Instead it will use existing fiber networks to provide service. That may however limit what the search giant can do, but it will also reduce launch times.
“To date, we’ve focused mostly on building fiber-optic networks from scratch”, writes Michael Slinger, Google Fiber’s business operations director. “Now, as Google Fiber grows, we’re looking for more ways to serve cities of different shapes and sizes”.
Google Fiber is already taking such an approach in other markets including Huntsville, Alabama, where it announced plans to launch using the city’s municipal network.
Google Fiber aims to provide free Gigabit Internet to “some public and affordable housing properties” in San Francsico, and is also working with a nonprofit organisation to teach basic Internet skills such as creating an email account and job applications.
Although it likely won’t cover the entire city, the launch in San Francisco is a big step for the firm. The idea is that as Gigabit Internet becomes more widespread business will find new uses for it, just like Netflix and streaming video providers have found uses for high speed Internet connections.
SOURCE: Google.
Larry Banks is a keen follower of technology and finance. He has worked for a variety of online publications, writing about a diverse range of topics including mobile networks, patents, and Internet video delivery technologies.