On Moving to Kansas

Google has finally released details on it's fiber optic internet project in Kansas City. There is a quick summary available here on the GeekMom blog from Wired and a video by Google describing the rollout process here. One of the more interesting pieces of information mentioned by the GeekMom blog is an infographic showing the speed and cost of internet access around the world.

According to the infographic, the US is middle of the road when it comes to broadband penetration, speed and cost. Google is doing some interesting things to help remedy the United States lagging infrastructure. They are offering the basic service for free after the customer pays the $300 installation fee (this can be paid in installments of $25 per month for 12 months). That makes sense, once the fiber has been laid and the service installed, there is little cost to the ISP to keep the pipe turned on, as it were. The free service is guaranteed for 7 years and provides 5 mbps download and 1mbps upload speeds.

Google is also offering speed upgrades. The second tier costs $70 per month with a waived installation fee, 1gbps upload and download and includes 1 TB of Google Drive storage. The third tier costs $120 per month and includes a Nexus 7 tablet, TV Box, 2 TB Storage Box, Network Box, and 1TB of Google Drive storage. The TV lineup listed is impressive but is still missing some notable channels including the ESPN networks and CNN as well as the major networks but they do claim to be adding new channels so they could be included at launch.

More details can be found here, and it's worth a read. There are several more interesting details that were not mentioned here such as the use of Android and iOS devices as remotes, automatic HD when you subscribe to the TV service and simultaneous recording of up to 8 channels. The most exciting aspect of Google Fiber is the pressure it will put on other ISPs to match the service. With bandwidtch 200 times greater than the average American Internet speed and an HD package with a 2 TB DVR, it will be difficult for other ISPs to compete. Needless to say, I'm looking for jobs in KC, MO or KS.