google – Page 5 – Steve Blum's Blog

Google's small business gigabit enables e-commerce for a few dollars more

23 November 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, ftth, google

Click for a bigger version.

An extra $30 or so gets you a commercially usable gigabit connection from Google. That’s the deal being rolled out to small businesses in a few districts of the Kansas City metro area.

The basic consumer price in Kansas City is $70 for a gigabit ($120 with television service). Google’s new small business package is $100 for the gigabit, plus another $20 if you want a static IP address (or 5 for $30).… More

Google's bootprint in Austin won't be Texas-sized

15 October 2014 by Steve Blum
att, austin, broadband, ftth, google

Click for a somewhat bigger version.

Google Fiber plans to start offering gigabit service in a handful of Austin neighborhoods in December. That’s the word from a press conference held by Google earlier today. Details are sketchy so far – all I could find in the way of coverage this afternoon was a brief write-up on a website published by a local newspaper, Community Impact.

The article, bylined by Joe Lanane, identifies Austin’s South Lamar, Zilker, Bouldin and Travis Heights neighborhoods as ground zero, and quotes Mark Strama, Google’s local manager, as saying…

That is where we will start—that is not where we will finish…Not every part of Austin will get fiber, but all areas will have the opportunity, and we will build in the areas with the highest demand.”

… More

Google has hyped the gig Frontier CEO complains. Duh.

4 August 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, frontiercommunications, google

The hare provokes the tortoise.

Google’s campaign to vex incumbent broadband providers is a stunning success, at least judging by the thoroughly vexed comments Frontier Communication’s CEO Maggie Wilderotter made to her board. According to a story in the Oregonian, she slammed Google for, um, creating unrest amongst Frontier’s customers…

“Today it’s about the hype, because Google has hyped the gig,” said Wilderotter, in Portland this week for a meeting of her company’s board. She said Google is pitching something that’s beyond the capacity of many devices, with very few services that could take advantage of such speeds, and confusing customers in the process.

… More

Is Google looking at an orbital backbone?

8 June 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, geek stuff, google, leo, worldvu

It was a good look then.

Google is making another sexy move with satellites, or so the rumor goes. It’s supposedly via an investment in WorldVu Satellites, which has picked up the spectrum originally assigned to SkyBridge, one of the failed low earth orbit (LEO) ventures of the 1990s. Iridium and GlobalStar actually launched, primarily as voice telephone services, but both had to go through the wringer of bankruptcy before there was even a hope of sustainability.… More

Nimby laws will keep Google Fiber out of its own backyard

3 June 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, ceqa, ftth, google, google fiber, palo alto, public policy

All Google has accomplished so far by including 5 Silicon Valley cities on its list of 34 candidates for fiber build-outs is to prove that California is a land of opportunity for obstructionists and not for broadband. To build on its home turf, Google Fiber has to accept that state and local laws allow anyone with an objection – no matter how trivial – to snarl and delay construction for months or even years.

The clearest warning comes in Palo Alto’s response to the Google Fiber City Checklist.… More

The name of the gigabit game is fractal hopscotch

28 May 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, centurylink, cox, fractal hopscotch, ftth, gigabit, google

Look familiar?

Cox is the latest major Internet service provider to announce that it’s getting into the gigabit business, saying that upgrades…

…will start with new residential construction projects and new and existing neighborhoods in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Omaha. In all Cox locations, the company will begin market-wide deployment of gigabit speeds by the end of 2016.

If those three cities sound familiar, it’s because CenturyLink has already targeted Omaha and Las Vegas, and Phoenix is one of the blessed 34 cities on Google’s maybe list for fiber-to-the-home (but not CenturyLink’s).… More

Portland tells Google we'll get back to you on that

8 May 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, ftth, google, portland, public policy

Even though Google says that all 34 cities it’s considering for FTTH expansion have more or less completed their fiber-ready checklist and remain in contention, it’s becoming clear that not all of them are bending over backwards (or forwards) in the process.

Portland is a good example. The city has posted its response to Google online and in many respects, it is simply saying no, albeit in a properly bureaucratic way.

The city’s bureau of transportation, which controls access to streets, essentially handed Google its standard policy for installing infrastructure in public of right of ways, which doesn’t actually meet Google’s requirements.… More

Google picks the right neighborhoods to build fiber in Kansas City

7 May 2014 by Steve Blum
bernstein, broadband, ftth, google, kansas city

Google Fiber strategy of cherry picking neighborhoods in the Kansas City area seems to be working. A study done by an investment research company shows that 75% of the homes in medium to high income areas that are passed by Google Fiber are subscribing to it (h/t to Fred Pilot at Eldo Telcom for the pointer). In low income areas, the study claims that 30% of homes passed are taking Google’s service.

Bernstein Research commissioned the study, which involved knocking on the doors of 350 homes in Google’s current – and limited – service area.… More

South Africa endorses best practices for broadband development policy

23 April 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, eu, google, loma linda, planet earth, public policy, san leandro, santa cruz, south africa

South Africa’s goal is to bring a minimum of 5Mbps Internet access to half its population by 2016 and 90% by 2020, with 100% of school, medical and government sites getting at least 10 Mbps by then. To do it, the government is adopting essentially the same policy playbook as the European Union, Google, and Californian communities such as Santa Cruz, San Leandro and Loma Linda…

Efficient permit granting: Responsible authorities will provide network operators with a clear, simple, transparent and efficient mechanism for granting permits for civil works.

… More

Old real estate business models slowing fiber upgrades

22 April 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, ftth, google, mdu, verizon

If you live in an apartment or condominium complex or similar – multiple dwelling units or MDUs as they’re called – then there is an additional hurdle between you and faster Internet service: your landlord or home owners’ association. Generally speaking, ISPs have to get permission to upgrade or install broadband facilities on private property. Those who control access can, in many cases, demand some form of compensation for saying yes.

Google has run into this problem in Kansas City.… More