Google Fiber Officially Coming To San Antonio

[douglas9]

The worst kept secret in broadband has been confirmed today with Google’s announcement that the next city to get Google Fiber Internet/TV/phone service will be the Texas town of San Antonio.

“San Antonio has developed a thriving tech landscape,” explains a blog post from Google. “Hundreds of startups have found their home in the Alamo City through collaborative workspaces and accelerators… Moreover, San Antonio’s recent selection for President Obama’s Tech Hire and Connect Home initiatives will help create a pipeline of tech jobs and narrow the digital divide.”

Google hasn’t announced pricing or a launch timeline for San Antonio, but is letting area residents sign up to be notified about service updates.

In the three markets (Kansas City, Austin, and Provo) where Google Fiber is up and running, it charges the same rates: $70/month for broadband; $130/month for broadband and TV; and a $0/month (after a $300 installation fee) offer for slower (5Mbps) Internet access. It’s expected that San Antonio and the other in-development Fiber markets will follow this blueprint.

http://consumerist.com/2015/08/05/google-fiber-officially-coming-to-san-antonio/

[yeoman6987]

1. That is cool

It would save me 56 dollars a month if it came to my area. 130 sounds good.

[TexasProgresive]

2. When are rural Texans going to get HSI?

I'm glad for San Antonio, but there are a lot of us that got nothing, well we can have dial up or satellite for a high price with data caps. I suppose some rural residents get some service from cell providers. That is not available were I live.

So YEA! for Google in San Antonio.

[kentauros]

9. Probably about the same time the largest city in the state gets it.

You'd think NASA and the Texas Medical Center would be techy enough for whatever their criteria is. I'm guessing the law of the land will change enough for municipalities to offer local broadband (without the telecoms shutting them down) before Houston and the rural areas get Google Fiber...

[MADem]

3. I thougt it was supposed to be cheaper...? nt

[hobbit709]

5. That $130 is for everything. TV, 1 Gb internet.

[MADem]

6. Is that a forever price, including taxes, and installation...?

And equipment? Or do you pay extra for boxes and stuff?

Dish/FiOS/Xfinity always have these deals that are a bit cheaper than that, good for a year or two.

[hobbit709]

7. $300 install fee waived if you go for the deal. I believe there is no trial price.

I imagine that there will be taxes and fees tacked on.
But here in Austin if you use either Time-Warner or AT&T U-Verse it's over $200/mo after the 6 months to a year deal.
I'm opting for the 5 Mbps deal. Pay the $300 connection fee and get it free guaranteed to 7 years. AT&T is charging me $54+/mo for "up to" 6 Mbps DSL.
For my purposes 5 Mbps is fast enough.

[MADem]

8. Wow -- that's expensive.

I keep my prices down by calling and threatening to leave the fold. They always cut the price when I do that.

[hobbit709]

4. It was supposed to be available in my neighborhood June 4. I'm still waiting.

Evidently it's taking them a little longer to run the lines than expected. Some parts of Austin already have it. Mine is one of those that doesn't.

[They_Live]

10. same here.

[TexasTowelie]

11. I could get by on 5Mbps.

Heck, I was able to get by on 1.5 Mbps and could receive streaming video reasonably well. However, the supply kept surging back and forth and sometimes got as low as 0.15 Mbps which was at the point that it wasn't enough to watch video so we recently upgraded to 12 Mbps and are satisfied with the service.