
Google Fiber Is Coming to San Antonio - JaakkoP
https://fiber.google.com/cities/sanantonio/
======
angrybits
This is a good thing even for those outside of San Antonio proper. I was able
to upgrade to 1 Gbps on a small-time ISP this weekend, and it's because Google
is coming to the large city near me. Competition is a wonderful thing.

~~~
JaakkoP
Yeah I bet that the incumbents are immediately going to offer better rates to
lock in the customers most likely to change providers.

~~~
josephjrobison
In Austin - offered 50mb from Time Warner for $35/mo - then automatically
upgraded to 200mb. The fiberhood is coming in a month so yes they're getting
generous.

~~~
jrockway
To be fair, Time Warner also upgraded us in NYC from 50Mbps to 300Mbps for the
same price, and we don't have Google Fiber in NYC.

~~~
josephjrobison
Ahh gotcha - correlation without causation then, I suppose?

------
new2
Can someone explain what it takes for Google Fiber to come to a city ?

Do they buy an existing fiber company in the city ? Do they buy dark fiber ?
Do they lay new fiber ?

I'm trying to understand how the process works.

Side note : Is anyone laying new fiber anymore ? I was reading this (
[http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/01/verizon-nears-the-
en...](http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/01/verizon-nears-the-end-of-fios-
builds/) )

~~~
platinum1
The actual new/old fiber itself isn't really what makes it possible to get
Google Fiber, it's more about having a regulatory framework that allows Fiber
to be cost effective.

From: [http://www.broadbandforamerica.com/blog/regulatory-
concessio...](http://www.broadbandforamerica.com/blog/regulatory-concessions-
paved-way-google-fiber)

"Municipalities across the U.S., nearly 1,100 of them, competed vigorously to
be chosen as the site for the project, but too few had a regulatory
environment conducive to the investment that was required."

I believe Salt Lake City sold their unused fiber infrastructure to Google for
$1, which I'm sure helped (in return Google ).

------
caseysoftware
Still waiting for it to "come" to Austin.

But on the plus side, TWC, ATT, and Grande (my favorite) all upgraded their
networks in Austin in the year+ after Google's announcement. Even though
coverage still isn't complete, we have all of them fighting it out.

~~~
simplyluke
Seriously.

Have any cities without large pre-existing fiber networks actually seen
widespread google fiber adoption?

I was singing its praises multiple years ago when Austin was announced, but
excluding a couple of small neighborhoods in south-central Austin, the city
has seen relatively little in the way of google fiber. AT&T, and Grande have
actually been expanding much faster from what I can see.

Major business areas still haven't seen Gbps speeds.

~~~
nulltype
It sure would be clever if Google realized they don't have to build out the
fiber, just threaten to.

~~~
freehunter
Problem is, if you promise the dog treats and never deliver, they'll
eventually stop doing the trick.

------
therobot24
I'm curious if you look at the list of Google Fiber cities and their
population density
([http://i.imgur.com/8mpVm73.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/8mpVm73.jpg)) you'll see
a trend, and maybe predict the next set of potential cities. I mean it makes
sense that they wouldn't roll out in NYC/LA/Chicago immediately, however,
there is most likely some ratio of density to total population that they may
be aiming for. I dunno, just a thought.

~~~
raldi
No, I think it's just that some cities have insane bureaucracies that make it
a nightmare to get anything done, and others don't.

See, for example, AT&T's eleven-years-and-counting ordeal to roll out U-Verse
across San Francisco.

~~~
therobot24
You're definitely right that many cities are crossed off due to bureaucracy,
though I'm specifically curious at how Google is picking cities to look into
in the first place. That's where I think density/population come into play.

~~~
yessql
I think there is a sweet spot in high enough population density and low enough
bureaucracy (or enough local gov cooperation).

~~~
therobot24
maybe we should be looking at this in the opposite direction, if you want to
live in a good sized city that has low bureaucracy government then look at
where Google is looking to put fiber

~~~
rayiner
Eh. Atlanta is a relatively low bureaucracy city that's getting fiber. It's
also a police state that puts black people in jail for failing to pay car
registration fees on time.

~~~
therobot24
fair enough

------
Animats
Google Fiber is mostly vaporware. Google has been announcing "coming to" for
various cities for five years now. Actual installation is about half of Provo,
Utah, one side of Kansas City, and part of Austin, TX. That's all.

It seems to be more of a PR stunt than an actual business.

~~~
brianpan
The business serving ads. The business importance is improving access that
users have and reducing costs of delivering bytes. Making money being in the
business of being an ISP is probably not a business goal. If data rates
magically improve when Google makes these announcements, that's has a positive
impact (more than just gaining a little PR).

------
Texasian
It's worth noting that San Antonio has had a fiber network in the ground for
years that it's municipally owned utility company put in.

The only reason it isn't open is because the state government passed a law
forbidding municipal ISPs.

~~~
Obi_Juan_Kenobi
Is that being fought in light of the FCC ruling on municipal broadband?

------
hipsterrific
I will disregard said posts until Google Fiber announces they're coming to
Minnesota.

On that note, can Google Fiber come to Minnesota? :(

~~~
destitude
Many places in Minnesota already offer gigabit fiber. What is strange is it is
in many of the rural areas (see most of Northern Minnesota).. See Paul Bunyan
Communications for instance.

~~~
seanf
My former employer has an expanding fiber network in Minneapolis:
[http://fiber.usinternet.com/](http://fiber.usinternet.com/)

------
msh
Just curious, what are people doing with the connections (if they are really
using the gigabit connection)?

Its not to discount the value of gigabit internet, but I curretly have 100/100
megabit and cant imagine what I would use faster speed to do. Most stuff dont
max out my current connection event with multiple users.

~~~
travelton
I'm just hoping for a low latency, stable connection. I feel Google's
networking infrastructure is likely a notch above the rest.

------
roflchoppa
Lemme just say as someone who lives in the Bay Area, often referred to as one
of the Tech Capitals of the US. We have crappy internet providers here.

and by crappy i mean Comcast / AT&T.

Oh the irony of living here and getting screwed over on ISPs.

------
devinus
This would be exciting if it was even rolled out in Austin yet.

------
JaakkoP
Here's also their blog post about the announcement.
[http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/san-antonio-
fibe...](http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/san-antonio-fiber.html)

------
agumonkey
Funny even though it seems a steady growing project, it's now a lot more
frustrating since it appear potentially mainstream rather than a one shot
experiment.

------
fideloper
Exciting news for me here in SA. Just moved here from CT ~9 months ago!

I'd rather pay evil Google over evil Time Warner.

------
sandworm101
All welland good, but will this come in time to swing Texas in the next
election?

~~~
saryant
Considering how _hilariously, astoundingly bad_ the last Democrat did in a
Texas gubernatorial election (and the fact that fiber != swings in political
sentiment), I'm going to chalk this up to a pipe dream.

~~~
pnut
Well to be fair, her only claim to fame was a single filibuster.

And even when the voting rolls turn purple/blue in Texas, that's just a green
flag for the entrenched Republican elements in TX to break out their book of
dirty tricks to stall the inevitable. They're not going to cede power without
a ruthless, billion dollar oil money fight.

~~~
saryant
I honestly think Davis' campaign set the Democrats in Texas back by ten years.

------
NoMoreNicksLeft
Goddammit, bring it to Lubbock. I beg you, Divine Google, show mercy on me.

------
sillygeese
Great news! Now San Antonians can have _everything_ they do online data-mined
by Google!

I'm being snarky, but does anyone doubt Google will snoop the shit out of you
once you're on a connection of theirs? That's the main reason they got into
the ISP business.

It's not like they started snooping only recently either. Remember when their
Street View cars just _" accidentally"_ happened to capture nearby WiFi
traffic?

~~~
nulltype
Yeah I totally trust Comcast to not do that too.

~~~
nadams
Sandvine anyone? When they said they weren't using it. Then we proved they
were and still denied it. Then I believe they were fined by the FCC and I
think to this day they still deny using it...

