Google Fiber – which was one of the pioneers of gigabit broadband in the US when it launched back in November 2012 – has announced that it has discontinued its entry-level 100Mbps service for new customers. Instead, all would-be subscribers will now be directed towards the ISP’s 1Gbps product, which retains its USD70 per month 2012 pricing point.
A post on the official Google Fiber blog reads: ‘When we set out to change the internet, we did so focused on one very core concept: speed. We were tired of settling for sub-par speeds, delivered over out-of-date networks that weren’t keeping up with the changing technological world. So, we decided to do something different. We started building fibre networks, from scratch, that allowed customers to access some of the first residential gigabit speeds in the United States. We were obsessed. Some said we were foolish. (Though we prefer ahead of our time.) Who needs a gigabit, they asked, when the average US internet speed at the time was crawling in single digits for both uploads and downloads?’
TeleGeography notes that Google Fiber struggled to maintain its early momentum, and its footprint remains stalled at 18 cities, with no notable rollout activity taking place in the last two years. The ISP lists its operational footprint as follows: Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Huntsville, AL; Kansas City, MO; Miami, FL; Nashville, TN; Oakland, CA; Orange County, CA; Provo, UT; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; Seattle, WA; and The Triangle, NC.