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Orange County doesn’t go crazy for Google’s 1 gbps fiber Internet

March 26th, 2010, 3:48 pm by

Today’s the last day for cities to make a bid to get Google behind them in building a city-wide  fiber-Internet service delivering up to 1 gigabit-per-second download speeds.

As of this 10 a.m., Google said it received 600 community responses and 190,000 responses from individuals by way of cities renaming themselves, great YouTube videos, public rallies and hundreds of grassroots Facebook groups. Funny stuff.

Quite a handful hail from Orange County. An updated count will be available later today.

The 1 Gbps speed is up to 100 times faster than what many consumers get. One gigabit is 1,024 megabits, so compare it with your own service. Most cable and DSL users get about 3 megabits per second for about $20 to $30 a month.

This is also no small investment because it requires city permits and digging up the streets to lay fiber-optic cables and all the way up to a customer’s house. No wonder the company got 600 bids from cities.

“We’re thrilled to see this kind of excitement, and we want to humbly thank each and every community and individual for taking the time to participate. This enthusiasm is much bigger than Google and our experimental network. If one message has come through loud and clear, it’s this: people across the country are hungry for better and faster Internet access,” James Kelly, the product’s manager wrote on the official Google Blog.

Google now plans to review the requests and consult with city officials. The winning communities should know by the end of the year.

Here’s my unofficial list of area cities that want Google fiber:

If I left anyone out, let me know or comment below.

I didn’t spot anything from some usual suspects, like Irvine, Huntington Beach or Santa Ana. But there was one Orange County city that is definitely not interested. Laguna Beach voted against pursuing Google (read the Register story: Laguna Beach won’t apply for Google broadband).

Previously on Google:

Posted in: Internet • • • • • • • • • | 8 Comments »

How to get Google’s new 1 Gbps Internet service to launch in your city

February 10th, 2010, 11:37 am by
YouTube Preview ImageNominate your city for Google’s 1 Gbps Internet service

That Google, always experimenting with cool technologies from the money it makes off investors and its core search-engine service. Today, the company said it would soon begin testing super-fast Internet service of up to 1 gigabits per second.

The 1 Gbps speed is up to 100 times faster than what many consumers get. One gigabit is 1,024 megabits, so compare it with your own service. Most cable and DSL users get about 3 megabits per second for about $20 to $30 a month.

Google plans to build fiber connections right to a customer’s home, which is the same technology Verizon FiOS uses to offer customers Internet download speeds of 50 Mbps and upload speeds of 35 Mbps.

This is no small investment because it requires city permits and digging up the streets to lay fiber-optic cables and all the way up to a customer’s house. But Google has the money, at least to experiment. It said it plans to offer the service “at a competitive price” to at least 50,000 people. Possibly 500,000. Interestingly, in the Google video on right, the company says it plans to share the fiber with other companies who want to also offer fast Internet to residents.

googleinternetAnd Google is asking the public to tell it where to start. It could even be here in Orange County, if you can get your city to make some inquiries.

“As a first step, today we’re putting out a request for information (RFI) to help identify interested communities. We welcome responses from local government, as well as members of the public. ”

Google is asking requests be made by March 26 and offers this page for as a starting point. City and community officials need to answer some questions, but any one can nominate their city on this page.

A faster Internet pipe has more benefits then streaming high-definition videos from the web smoothly. It allows companies, like Verizon, to offer TV service and broadcast HD channels without the need to compress them. It can mean high-definition video calls. Or the ability to back up your computer’s hard drive online within seconds.

Google apparently has been buying unused fiber for years although analysts had suspected the purchases was to connect Google’s own data centers, according to a CBC News report.

Good reading about Google’s gigabit efforts online:


Posted in: Internet • • • • • | 17 Comments »

Would you buy a house because it has Verizon FiOS?

June 30th, 2009, 12:43 pm by

Would you buy a house because it has Verizon FiOS?Nearly 70 percent of 600 people surveyed recently said that yes, their next house better have that speedy fiber-optic based Internet service, such as Verizon FiOS.

And these are people who can’t order FiOS, like most of us in Orange County, even if we dangled a $100 bill in front of a Verizon installer!

When it comes to buying a house, this speedy Internet, which requires a company to connect cables from its facility all the way to a consumer’s front door, was more important than having nearby jogging trails, 24-hour security, a community pool or a neighborhood fitness center, according to report commissioned by the Fiber-to-the-Home Council and conducted by Oklahoma consulting firm RVA Market Research and Consulting. 

Fiber lets companies like Verizon offer its speedy FiOS network of super-fast Internet (up to 50 Mbps downstream, 20 Mbps upstream to upload videos, photos), TV service, phone and pretty much anything else it wants to offer customers at home. Many in Orange County have been salivating for the service, or so it seems.

In reality, though, will people really buy a house because it has FiOS?

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Verizon recently acknowledged that it slowed FiOS expansion plans in Southern California because customers who could order it, weren’t. Said Verizon at the time, “… In order to get the return on our investment we need to focus on areas that we’ve already built.” (Read the earlier story, Verizon’s FiOS TV rollout slows in So Cal.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • | 8 Comments »

Cheaper FiOS? Reseller undercuts Verizon by 30-40 percent

May 18th, 2009, 2:28 pm by

Verizon FiOSSpotted on CrunchGear (via Ars Technica), there’s a new Internet service in Orange County offering 50 megabit-per-second Internet speeds at 30 to 40 percent less than Verizon FiOS.

DSL Extreme, a Los Angeles-based Internet service provider, is offering service with 50 Mbps speeds for $99.95/month, or $40 to $65 cheaper than the same service from Verizon. (For those just tuning in, Verizon has been planting fiber-optic cables in areas it already offers telephone service. With fiber, the company can offer 50 mbps Internet speeds, full TV service and, of course, phone service). For both services, the fastest UPLOAD speed is 20 Mbps, which is faster than any other Internet service available.

And what do you know… It appears that DSL Extreme is using Verizon’s fiber-optic lines. I just checked a few O.C. addresses where FiOS is offered and yup, DSL Extreme is available at those houses, too. Addresses where FiOS is not available don’t qualify for the DSL Extreme service.

This could be good news for Verizon, which has had a hard time signing up customers in our area. By reselling the lines, Verizon can make a cut of the sale. This is something regional DSL providers have long done to offer Internet service to consumers. 

But then again, Verizon is already worried about the local cable TV company offering outrageous deals to residents living in new FiOS TV neighborhoods. It can’t be happy that Internet companies reselling its service are undercutting FiOS prices by 30 to 40 percent. However, as Ars Technica points out, Verizon could compete more on price. It charges just $90 in New York and Virginia for the same 50 Mbps connection that we in O.C. must pay a minimum of $139 to receive.

DSL Extreme’s “Fiber Extreme” service is available to 10.4 million households in 17 states (including CA, CT, DC, DE, FL, IN, MA, MD, NJ, NY, OR, PA, RI, SC, TX, VA, and WA). That’s the same exact number of eligible FiOS Internet households that Verizon reported in its earnings. You can check availability for your home at dslextreme.com/fiber or www.verizon.com/fios.

Keep in mind that DSL Extreme’s price  is introductory. This is a 12-month contract that will cost $250 to cancel.

But I just checked with a DSL Extreme customer service rep who told me how much the price goes up after the year. Not much! Just $10 a month for the 50 Mbps service if you commit to a second year, or $30/month if you don’t. Here is the break down:

Fiber Internet 10 Mbps 20 Mbps 50 Mbps
DSL Extreme w/ 1 yr. contract $39.95 $54.95 $99.95
DSL Extreme renew w/ contract $44.95 $59.95 $109.95
DSL Extreme renew w/o contract $49.95 $64.95 $129.95
FiOS w/ phone and 1 yr. contract $44.95 $54.95 $139.95
FiOS w/ 1 yr. contract, no phone $49.95 $59.95 $144.95
FiOS w/ phone, no contract $54.95 $64.95 $159.95
FiOS w/o phone, no contract $59.95 $69.95 $164.95

Source: Verizon and DSL Extreme

Recent FiOS news:

 
Visit the Gadgetress’ Guide to local TV services. 

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • | 5 Comments »

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