Google Fiber Finally Announced for SLC!
March 24, 2015
Praise Tymora and Miyamoto!
Internet Giant Google announced in a blog post today that Salt Lake City has now entered the “design stage” of their Google Fiber program. Google Fiber is a high-speed internet business run by Google, which only services specific cities who have gone through the process of setting it up. It’s currently only being used in Austin, Texas, Kansas City, and Provo, Utah.
Now, another city in the Silicon Slopes is poised to show the world what’s possible with gigabit Internet. Today, we’re ready to bring Google Fiber to one more metro area—Salt Lake City.
Can I just mention how cool it is that we’re the Silicon Slopes? Salt Lake Valley, the technology hub, the developer’s valley, the Silicon Slopes… Ah, it brings a smile to my face every time.
Moving on! Google Fiber’s big selling point is, of course, that it offers a guaranteed 1Gbps – That’s 1 Gigabit Per Second – of Internet Speed. For comparison, my house just off campus is on one of the best internet plans available, and we get around 50 Mbps, which is 1/20th of the speed Google is offering. And it offers that for $70 per month, and $120 if you want to get your TV included in that. Again, for comparison, we’re getting the Internet + Cable package for $20 more per month than that. So, you’re telling me that I can increase my Internet Speeds 20 times over and pay less for it?
Yes, that’s exactly what we’re saying.
But it’s not available yet – we’ve entered the “design stage”, which means that Devin Baer (our Fiber City Manager) and his team will be working closely with city planners to lay the fiber cables that Google Fiber requires to run. What does this mean? It means that now, when you see all that awful construction and tearing up roads that will happen this summer, you can smile because you know that it might be them implementing your new high-speed internet provider. Or it might be them replacing that same pipe they replace every year. Try to think positively.
You can get a little more information, and sign up to receive updates specific to your neighborhood, at the Salt Lake City Fiber page.
Ally • Sep 14, 2015 at 3:33 pm
I grew up in Northern Nevada, which has about the same population as Utah (I think we have a bit less, but not much) and a much lgraer area. About 71% of the state’s population is in the Las Vegas Metro area, with the vast majority of the rest being in the Reno/Carson City area. You get out into the desert, away from the towns and cities, and you know well and truly what it is to be alone.