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Google Networking The Internet

Google Fiber To Come To Provo, Utah 92

Posted by Soulskill from the stop-making-me-jealous-of-cities-i've-never-heard-of dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Google announced today that they intend on purchasing the existing iProvo fiber network to make Provo the third U.S. city to have Google Fiber. If approved by the city council, implementation would begin later in 2013. 'As a part of the acquisition, we would commit to upgrade the network to gigabit technology and finish network construction so that every home along the existing iProvo network would have the opportunity to connect to Google Fiber.'" Also at SlashCloud
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Google Fiber To Come To Provo, Utah More

Google Fiber To Come To Provo, Utah

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  • Funny that Google (one of the backers of CISPA) announces something that will catch everyone's eyes and ears on the same day CISPA goes to the Senate floor for a vote.

  • Not fair to call it Google fiber (Score:3, Informative)

    by TWiTfan ( 2887093 ) on Wednesday April 17, 2013 @03:43PM (#43476595)

    AFAICT, Google hasn't laid a single foot of fiber themselves. They've just been buying up existing fiber that has already been laid by earlier projects and calling it Google fiber.

    • Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)

      by ArcadeMan ( 2766669 )

      Google, Microsoft and Apple do the same thing. If it's something bought from someone else, they re-brand it. Examples include Google Fiber, MS-DOS and Siri.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        Google, Microsoft and Apple do the same thing. If it's something bought from someone else, they re-brand it. Examples include Google Fiber, MS-DOS and Siri.

        Siri wasn't re-branded. It was always called Siri, named after the original company, Siri Inc, which was spun off from SRI International (Stanford Research Institute) - a company created by Stanford to commercialize Stanford's research.

        Of course, there were dozens of other things that were re-branded. Like Thunderbolt (though Apple licensed the trademark

        • You're right about Siri, my mistake. In the case of Thunderbolt, AFAIK it was developed jointly with Intel, so apart from the different name I don't think it's anything like Google Fiber.

          I guess OS X would be a better example, since Apple bought NeXT and used its OS as the basis for OS X.

        • All the Thunderbolt rights, including trademark, belong to Intel. Apple registered the trademark initially, but then gave it to Intel sometime in 2011

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Google is connecting fiber lines directly to people's homes. They've laid plenty of fiber.

    • AFAICT, Google hasn't laid a single foot of fiber themselves. They've just been buying up existing fiber that has already been laid by earlier projects and calling it Google fiber.

      The difference here being Gigabit speeds, or free 5Mbit for those that don't need the speed. Both of which will probably be a big hit in a college town, and weren't previously offered by iProvo.

    • How is it not fair to call it Google Fiber? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by DragonWriter ( 970822 ) on Wednesday April 17, 2013 @04:42PM (#43477233)

      AFAICT, Google hasn't laid a single foot of fiber themselves. They've just been buying up existing fiber that has already been laid by earlier projects and calling it Google fiber.

      You know what, most airlines have never built an airplane themselves, either, they just buy up (actually, I think "lease" is the more common model now) existing airplanes and slap their names on them. So what?

      Since when is it "not fair" to use your company's name on a service you sell, just because some key pieces of equipment used in providing that service were either purchased or leased from someone else? Is it unfair for the (very many) companies selling services built on top of, e.g., Amazon's cloud infrastructure (who haven't even bought the infrastructure from Amazon, but are renting it dynamically based on usage) to use their own name rather than Amazon's for their services?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Qzukk ( 229616 )

      AFAICT, Google hasn't laid a single foot of fiber themselves

      That's funny, half the rage over google fiber in Kansas was them getting permission to use power poles for stringing up fiber. Not sure what everyone was up in arms about if all that fiber was already there.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dywolf ( 2673597 )

      if that's what it takes....

    • Google is laying tons and tons of fiber.

      Google does buy up dark fiber capacity, for backbones, but that has nothing to do with the Google Fiber project in KC, Austin, and Provo.

      Tons of fiber has been installed in KC. I'm not sure about the situation in Austin. In Provo, Google is taking over the unfinished government fiber project and finishing/upgrading it.

  • Stop taunting us! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    When will Google Fiber come to my city! Yes, I'll give up all my privacy to Google! You know the truth? If Google demanded I send them nude pictures so I could have gigabit Internet, I'd do it! Anything for gigabit Internet! PLEASE!!! NOW!!! PLEASE!!!

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Ditto. I will show off my sexy abdomen, stinger, thorax, etc. ;)

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by StormReaver ( 59959 )

      When will Google Fiber come to my city!

      Every time I have to talk to AT&T tech support, I make sure I mention that I really, really, really hope that Google Fiber comes to my area so I can drop AT&T.

      Recently, my UVerse modem died, requiring a replacement. After it was installed, I had to call tech support to get my static IP address reinstated. At one point, I said I was using Linux, and AT&T said they would have to stop the tech support call right there. I then said I was running Windows XP, and the tech support guy resumed being

  • Google Fiber will engulf the US in a mere 4,378 years!

    • Google Fiber will engulf the US in a mere 4,378 years!

      Which when compared to cable providers will be 100x quicker than their scheduled upgrade to Gigabit. (and 250x quicker than telcos.)

      And don't forget, even when cable companies get to the Gigabit threshold, they will still have a 250Mb/month usage cap. (which will only be waived if you are in an area where they do not have a monopoly and fear you may leave for the competition.)

  • Can't wait (Score:4, Informative)

    by ekimd ( 968058 ) on Wednesday April 17, 2013 @03:56PM (#43476729)

    As a current iProvo fiber user, I can't wait to welcome my new Google overlords.

    • I used iProvo back when Provo city was still running the ship and it was perfectly fine (except the install process). Each time it moved hands it seemed to get worse. This final move will hopefully be the last. I texted John Curtis (Provo mayor) as soon as I heard the announcement. His response? "It's a great oppurtinity for Provo." I find that somewhat telling as Provo city gets 25 buildings wired to gigabit for free, while the taxpayers (myself included) continue paying for the $39 million bond.
      iProvo wa

      • You meant $300 install fee, right? (Though I see that for the higher priced ones, they even have the install fee officially listed as waived, like I had read about in other news stories.)

        Even if you do have to pay $300 install fee, that's at worst equivalent to 1 year of DSL (using AT&T's price for naked DSL.. The $14.95/month ads require you to have a phone line)⦠then free. Seems like a great deal to me.

        • It's a $30 activation fee [blogspot.com] for those already on iProvo. My bet is that new customers pay a $300 install fee for the free service, just like elsewhere, but no news on that yet.

      • Re:Can't wait (Score:5, Informative)

        by jensend ( 71114 ) on Wednesday April 17, 2013 @06:13PM (#43478121)

        It's true that this is basically a "take this away from Veracity" move.

        iProvo was a great idea. It was killed by politics.

        The extreme right-wing folks who think there should be no public services managed to force Provo to not provide services directly ("retail model") but rather to cut corporate middlemen in on the deal ("wholesale model"). That privatized all the profits while socializing all the costs. Unsurprisingly, it failed.

        Given the political realities in Utah right now, I suppose the Google Fiber deal is the best we could hope for. But we would have had something at least as good way back in 2006 if it weren't for idiotic politicians.

  • Here's hoping they do the same with the stalling UTOPIA network in Salt Lake City.
    • Salt Lake City is not part of UTOPIA. Though many surrounding municipalities are part of it.
      • Here's hoping that they do the same with the UTOPIA network in Brigham City, Centerville, Layton, Lindon, Midvale, Murray, Orem, Payson, Tremonton, and West Valley City then. Is that better? Criminy.

  • Porn (Score:2, Funny)

    by Oyjord ( 810904 )

    Just imagine how much faster the porn will download in Utah! Wait....

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ewieling ( 90662 )
      Indeed. Old, but may be relevant: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705288350/Utah-No-1-in-online-porn-subscriptions-report-says.html?pg=all
  • I'm getting the impression that LA, Chicago and NY are going to have a long wait for this.

    • Re:Big cities?? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ArcadeMan ( 2766669 ) on Wednesday April 17, 2013 @04:25PM (#43477025)

      Now imagine how long people in Shawinigan, Québec, Canada will have to wait.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Guspaz ( 556486 )

        Shawinigan is in the service area of Bell Canada, who are deploying fiber to the home (in general, not necessarily currently in Shawinigan) at a pretty decent pace, although their speeds top out at 175 Mbps symetrical for several times more than Google charges.

        • And since it's Bell, that 175 Mbps will be useless after about an hour or two of downloading. They have some of the worst monthly caps I've ever heard of.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Guspaz ( 556486 )

            They have unlimited for $10/mth extra, although I'm not sure if they're still allowing people to sign up for it.

    • Re:Big cities?? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by rsborg ( 111459 ) on Wednesday April 17, 2013 @05:52PM (#43477985) Homepage

      I'm getting the impression that LA, Chicago and NY are going to have a long wait for this.

      Of course they will. Do those cities also have a municipal fiber setup that Google could snatch up for $1?
      When Google is looking at the FIBER_ROLLOUT_CITIES table, they aren't doing an ORDER BY population DESC. More like ORDER BY cost, legal_difficulties ASC.

  • Wow, from the first city to the next getting it, it was, what, about a year? And now another one in a matter of days. If my calculations are correct, all baryonic matter will be made of google fiber in a month, or so.

    Awesome!

  • Looks like ISP's better watch their collective back. Google coming to screw telecom monopolies over and give the customer what they truly want in an obscure city somewhat near you...

    • Hey! That obscure city is where I live!

      ...then again, it's usually listed as "a suburb of Salt Lake City" even though it's 40 minutes away...

  • Google would get a firesale price if they wanted to purchase UTOPIA [wikipedia.org].
    Google, buy UTOPIA!

  • History repeats (Score:3)

    by dbIII ( 701233 ) on Wednesday April 17, 2013 @05:37PM (#43477877)
    A place in Utah was also the third site in the forerunner of the internet.

  • Why choose Provo? (hint: lookup Bluffdale, Utah) (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Just wanted to float the slightly unobvious fact that Provo is only one county away from Bluffdale, Utah where the NSA's new data facility (capable of storing the entirety of the Internet for the next 1000 years) is located..

    *wink wink...say no more, say no more*

  • How else could they stream Lindsey Stirling performances live to her millions of fans?

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