Google Fiber

Not to be confused with Google Fi Wireless.

GFiber
Area served28 areas across the contiguous United States
OwnerGoogle (2010–2015)
Access/Alphabet Inc. (2015–present)
Key peopleDinesh Jain
(CEO of Access)[1]
IndustryMultiple-system operator
ProductsBroadband Internet
VoIP telephone
URLfiber.google.com
LaunchedFebruary 10, 2010; 14 years ago (2010-02-10)
Current statusActive
ASNs

Google Fiber, sometimes stylized as GFiber, is a fiber broadband Internet service operated by Google Fiber Inc.,[2] a subsidiary of Alphabet,[3] servicing a growing number of households in cities in 19 states across the United States.[4] In mid-2016, Google Fiber was estimated to have about 453,000 broadband customers.[5]

The service was first introduced in 2012 in the Kansas City metropolitan area, growing to include twenty Kansas City area suburbs within three years.[6] Initially proposed as an experimental project,[7] Google Fiber was announced as a viable business model in December 2012, when Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt stated "It's actually not an experiment, we're actually running it as a business", at The New York Times' DealBook Conference.[8]

Google Fiber announced expansion to Austin, Texas, and Provo, Utah, in April 2013, and subsequent expansions in 2014 and 2015 to Atlanta, Charlotte, Research Triangle, Nashville, Salt Lake City, and San Antonio.[9] GFiber resumed expansion and by early 2024, GFiber also served Huntsville (Alabama), Maricopa County (Arizona), Des Moines and West Des Moines (Iowa), Omaha (Nebraska) among others.

In August 2015, Google announced its intention to restructure the company, moving less central services and products into a new umbrella corporation, Alphabet Inc. As part of this restructuring plan, Google Fiber would become a subsidiary of Alphabet and would possibly become part of the Access and Energy business unit.[10]

In October 2016, all expansion plans were put on hold and some jobs were cut.[11] Google said it would continue to provide Google Fiber service in the cities where it was already installed. Since then, GFiber acquired Webpass to add presence in 5 additional states.

In March 2022, Google Fiber announced it would bring high speed internet to the Des Moines, Iowa, metro area, making it the first expansion in five years.[12][13] GFiber has resumed very active expansion in several new states.

In August 2022, Google Fiber announced it would expand into 22 metro areas in five states (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, and Nevada), including previously announced expansions into Mesa, Arizona, and Colorado Springs, Colorado, based on where it felt speeds were lagging.[14] It also announced additional investment in North Carolina.[15] CNET characterized this an example of fast fiber winning the broadband wars.[16]

In October 2023 Google Fiber rebranded to GFiber and announced plans to begin offering 20Gig internet and Wi-Fi 7 hardware in the near future.[17]

  1. ^ "Alphabet hires Time Warner Cable executive to lead Access and Google Fiber". February 6, 2018. Archived from the original on March 5, 2018. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  2. ^ "Google Fiber Inc". OpenCorporates. June 15, 2010. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  3. ^ Wakabayashi, Daisuke (October 25, 2016). "Google Curbs Expansion of Fiber Optic Network, Cutting Jobs". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  4. ^ Helft, Miguel (March 21, 2010). "Hoping for Gift From Google? Go Jump in the Lake". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 9, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  5. ^ Baumgartner, Jeff (September 9, 2016). "Google Fiber 'Very Pleased' with TV Sign-Ups". Multichannel News. Archived from the original on February 25, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  6. ^ Medin, Milo (March 30, 2011). "Ultra high-speed broadband is coming to Kansas City, Kansas". Official Google Blog. Archived from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  7. ^ Ingersoll, Minnie; Kelly, James (February 10, 2010). "Think big with a gig: Our experimental fiber network". Official Google Blog. Archived from the original on November 29, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  8. ^ Copeland, Michael V. (December 12, 2012). "Eric Schmidt Says Google Fiber Won't Stop With Kansas City". Wired. Archived from the original on April 23, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  9. ^ Brodkin, Jon (August 5, 2015). "Google Fiber plans service in San Antonio, its biggest city yet". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on May 17, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  10. ^ Bergen, Mark (November 30, 2015). "Meet Access, the Google Unit That's Taking On Comcast and the Rest of the Cable Biz". Recode. Vox Media. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pause was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Clayworth, Jason (April 5, 2022). "Google Fiber is coming to Des Moines". Axios. Archived from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  13. ^ Porter, Jon (August 11, 2022). "Google Fiber isn't dead, it's expanding". The Verge. Archived from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  14. ^ Dave, Paresh (August 10, 2022). "Exclusive: Google Fiber plans 5-state growth spurt, biggest since 2015". Reuters. Archived from the original on August 10, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  15. ^ "Google Fiber expanding in NC markets, too | WRAL TechWire". wraltechwire.com. August 10, 2022. Archived from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  16. ^ Shankland, Stephen. "While You Weren't Watching, Fiber Broadband Leapfrogged DSL and Cable in Much of the World". CNET. Archived from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  17. ^ "Google Fiber Blog: GFiber Labs announces first project: 20 Gig with Wi-Fi 7". Fiber Blog. Retrieved October 27, 2023.