The Google Fiber expansion has been painfully slow, and while that’s probably not going to change anytime soon, people living in Irvine, Louisville, and San Diego will be pleased to hear that Google is considering bringing it’s ultra-fast Internet service to their cities. Google will begin working with the local governments in these cities over the next few months to decide which ones will be ideal for a Google Fiber rollout. The company also announced that Phoenix, Portland, and San Jose are still being considered as well.
One goal of Google Inc.’s Alphabet re-organization is to give its newer businesses more independence on where and how to invest. Exhibit A (or should it be “F”?) might be Google Fiber, the company’s fast Internet service, which offers speeds of one gigabit per second, about 100 times as fast as the average broadband service in the U.S. Google Fiber said Thursday that it’s considering expanding service to three new cities: San Diego, Louisville, Ky.; and Irvine, Calif. That would add to the three areas where Google Fiber already provides service – Kansas City, Austin, Texas, and Provo, Utah – and nine others where it is planning service or exploring the idea. “We’ve seen that this planning process is helpful, both for Google Fiber and city officials—working together, we can take a massive infrastructure project and break it into manageable pieces,” Google wrote in a blog post. Google said it chose the three new candidates because political leaders in those areas want to expand Internet access. Google cited Code Louisville, a program that helps train software developers and connect them with open positions. In Irvine, Google said collaborative workplaces are fostering entrepreneurial culture. The company also noted San Diego has a growing startup scene.
