So far, no love for the Pacific Time Zone.
Google continues to lay the groundwork for expanding its fiber to the home project into more metro areas. According to a story by Darren DaRonco and Parker Leavitt in the Arizona Republic, Google is negotiating agreements with cities in the Phoenix area to get access to public right of ways. The first city to approve a deal is Tempe…
The agreement “gives us approval to build a network in the city of Tempe,” said Angie Welling, Google’s public policy and government affairs manager. Under the agreement, Google is granted the access it needs to dig, bury lines and hang wires, Welling said…
While the vote indicates Google is inching forward, it doesn’t mean the [Phoenix metro area] is guaranteed Google Fiber service.
Google isn’t getting any subsidies from Tempe, but it is getting a break on some of the usual right of way rules and it’s agreed to pay what amounts to a 5% franchise fee. Similar proposals are on the table in Phoenix and Scottsdale.
At this point, Google seems to be keeping its options open in Arizona without making final commitments. It’s the same story in Texas, where it asked for and received lightning fast permission from the state public utilities commission to expand to San Antonio from its current base in Austin.
It’s been a big year so far for Google’s expansion plans. The Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Nashville, Nashville and Salt Lake City areas will be getting Google Fiber, to one extent or the other. Of the metro areas on Google’s short list at the beginning of this year, there’s only two – San Jose and Portland – where there’s been no formal announcement or flurry of activity.