Google has announced that Kansas City, Kan., (not Mo. Sorry, Mo.) will be the first city to get a 1 Gb/s fiber network on the Internet giant’s tab under a plan announced last year. The announcement came a few months later than expected, and comes after a process that saw more than 1,100 U.S. cities apply. Google plans to start offering broadband service at competitive prices over the Kansas City network in 2012. Google also said more cities will be chosen for fiber projects in the months ahead, though judging from reactions across the Web, not getting dibs was a huge letdown to some applicants.
Milo Medin, vice president of access at Google, has more in this blog post:
“We’ve heard from some communities that they’re disappointed not to have been selected for our initial build. So just to reiterate what I’ve said many times in interviews: We’re so thrilled by the interest we’ve generated—today is the start, not the end the project. And over the coming months, we’ll be talking to other interested cities about the possibility of us bringing ultra high-speed broadband to their communities.”
Duluth, Minn.; Syracuse, N.Y.; and Wichita, Kan., were just a few of the cities that appeared to be deeply disappointed at not being chosen. That shows how much these markets really want an alternative, and Google’s decision, albeit later than planned, is an important next step in showing that it is committed to doing what it said it would do.
A lot of us thought the 1 Gb/s community network plan was nothing more than a PR and regulatory gambit by Google. Until the Kansas City network is up and running, and until Google lines up more cities for deployment, questions about its commitment and intentions may linger. However, for now, it appears there will be some new broadband competition in Kansas City, Kan., next year. We’ll be interested to see how well Google pulls this off and how incumbent service providers respond to the challenge.