Will Google Fiber Start Up Again?

On the morning of April 9, 2013, the excitement around downtown Austin was palpable.

Google was about to make official what local business organisation and engineering science leaders had been hoping for: The search engine giant was bringing its ultra-high-speed Google Cobweb internet service to Austin.

Several hundred visitors crowded into downtown's Brazos Hall for the formal announcement, and looked on every bit Google executives, business organisation leaders and politicians touted the arrival of the service as a huge win for Austin.

The touch on on the region'south tech sector would be enormous, they said, and the loftier-speed service would be a boon to economic development leaders. Plus, they said, it would make Austin one of the most-connected cities in the nation, furthering its status as a tech hub. Austin was just the second metro expanse in the nation to land the service, which runs at speeds of up to i gigabit per second, or well-nigh 100 times faster than the typical broadband internet connexion in this land.

Then-Gov. Rick Perry told the crowd that "with the installment of Google Fiber, the case tin be made that Texas is one stride closer to becoming the nation's side by side technological hub, inviting some of the boldest and about creative visionaries to telephone call Austin their home." And Eugene Sepulveda, CEO of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas, said the inflow of Google Fiber was "the next big thing in Austin."

It'south coming up on seven years since those exciting claims were made, and 5 years since the service first became bachelor in some areas of Austin.

Has Google Fiber really had the impact on Austin that politicians and industry experts expected?

The answer is complicated.

At that place is general understanding that Google's program to bring ultra-high-speed internet to the masses led to more than — and improve — high-speed cyberspace options for Austin consumers. Google Fiber's entry into the market spurred existing providers to raise their game, and the result has been amend and faster internet service at lower rates, industry experts say. It also has led to improve connectivity in long-underserved areas, such every bit E Austin.

What's less articulate is the impact Google Fiber has had on the area's applied science sector — specifically gaming, research and the startup community — and its usefulness as a recruiting tool for the city'south economic development leaders. The uneven nature of the service'south deployment — along with some belongings damage washed while contractors installed fiber lines around the city — has led to some criticism.

An uneven rollout

Austin certainly had expert reason to exist excited about landing Google Cobweb.

The city was just the second U.S. market Google selected for its high-speed service, post-obit rollout in Kansas Metropolis. And experts say the technology has nearly universal applications.

Fiber-speed service is "as close to a future-proof technology that has ever existed," said Jim Hayes, president of the Fiber Optic Association, a California-based nonprofit that provides grooming for industry professionals.

"Everything relies on it. The internet relies on it," said Hayes, who has been working in the fiber optics industry for almost forty years.

However, really delivering the service to Austin consumers hasn't gone exactly equally Google initially promised.

The technology behemothic created a arrangement whereby residents could sign upward to limited interest in having Google Fiber come to their neighborhood. Once enough interest was expressed, the neighborhood would be added to a list of future targets, the company said.

Google initially said rollout of the service would commencement in mid-2014. Still, the company didn't formally begin accepting neighborhood signups until early December 2014, with the offset eligible areas being in South and Southeast Austin. The service actually became available in a few South Austin neighborhoods in January 2015.

The service has since spread toward West and Central Austin. Google Fiber is currently available or in the installation phase in at least some portion of 19 Cipher codes around Austin. For comparing, in 2016 the service was available in simply five Naught codes.

The Google Fiber installation process has created issues, cartoon hundreds of complaints filed with the urban center in 2016. In Southeast Austin, residents complained of construction eyesores, and some had damage washed to their homes afterwards they said work by Google's contractors caused blocked tempest drains that led to flooding.

Daniel Lucio, government and community affairs manager for Google Fiber in Austin, said structure-related challenges in the metropolis were largely due to limestone getting in the way of laying down cablevision. Lucio said a new method chosen shallow trenching has been constructive in Austin.

Sasha Petrovic, general manager for Google Fiber markets in Texas and parts of California, said Google in 2016 acquired California-based Webpass, which uses radio technology that makes it easier to deploy loftier-speed internet service.

"Our tool kit keeps on building the more than and more nosotros go into the market," Petrovic said.

Austin Urban center Quango Member Kathie Tovo said she has spoken with residents in her Central Austin district who accept voiced concern almost the construction process on their blocks. Still, Tovo said she believes Google Fiber has worked to ameliorate its lines of communication.

"There are ii things that Google Cobweb has done right to address those concerns. One is existence actually proactive and making sure that the quango offices and the other city staff accept a direct line of contact to someone at Google Fiber who could help resolve whatsoever concerns nosotros hear from our constituents," Tovo said. "From fourth dimension to time, they've also allow united states know when they're going to be moving into new areas."

Nonetheless, the uneven rollout has led to criticism from residents who signed up early and say they notwithstanding oasis't received the service.

Quango Member Sabino "Pio" Renteria said his district in Southeast Austin was one of the first areas to receive Google Cobweb service, but some parts of his district still don't accept access.

"Y'all just can't go effectually promising people to provide that service and so years afterward, still not provide that service," Renteria said.

Renteria said he appreciates Google Fiber'south community work, but said that as a consumer he has been disappointed with the rollout. Renteria, who lives in the Due east Cesar Chavez surface area, said he was ane of the first residents who paid the $x signup fee to get Google Fiber.

"Nosotros all put our $ten in, and we haven't heard dorsum from them. What have they done with our 10 bucks?" he said.

Petrovic said he understands residents' frustrations, simply he said the company has to grow responsibly in each market.

"Function of our balancing act is to brand sure when nosotros're out in the field amalgam and expanding, that it's in a responsible manner where it'south a good experience for us across the lath and the community, as well every bit futurity customers," Petrovic said.

The visitor has stopped taking neighborhood signups and is taking a more "prescriptive" approach, Petrovic said.

"Our process now is to really cascade over a neighborhood to make sure that information technology moves in a overnice, steady pattern, and to make sure that nosotros tin build a good, feasible network," Petrovic said.

Jess Rodriguez, who works for flat locating service Apartment Experts in S Austin, said the availability of Google Fiber services has been a deciding cistron for many of her clients.

"It's one of those things that are a make-or-break for some people," Rodriguez said. "It's admittedly one of those things that people inquire for. Now, the fact that AT&T has come out with its own fiber service has made it a petty flake easier for u.s.a. to work around that."

Lisa Walkie, who has been a existent estate agent in Austin for more than 20 years, said she distinctly remembers when Google Cobweb appear its plans for the city, along with the demand she heard from clients.

Still, she said interest in the service has died downwards.

"It was a thing when it first came out, people were really interested for a year or two afterwards," Walkie said. "I don't have anybody coming to me and proverb 'Oh, I demand Google Cobweb to be in a certain area.'"

The 'underconnected'

Google executives say the company has focused on deploying services to areas of the city that it deems "underconnected," or without access to dependable, high-speed cyberspace, including public housing units, schools and nonprofit facilities.

Lucio said working with nonprofits and underserved communities e'er has been a priority for Google Fiber.

"Southeast Austin and Due east Austin are some of the most underconnected communities, so we deliberately began deploying in those communities first," he said.

The company'southward "Customs Connections" program aims to provide costless Google Fiber services to about 100 sites for surrounding residents, including Austin Independent School District campuses too every bit the city's public library locations.

More than 700 Austin public housing units also have been provided free Google Fiber internet.

"These types of programs help underscore the blazon of commitment we take to the customs," Lucio said.

City officials selected Community Connections locations after considering more than than 300 applications submitted by more 150 local nonprofits.

John Speirs, program manager for Austin'due south Office of Telecommunications and Regulatory Affairs, said the city looked for means to empower organizations with the Google Fiber service.

"We were actually looking at organizations that were needing help scale their program, generate larger affect," Speirs said.

As office of the 2013 agreement, Speirs said, Google Fiber would offer free services until 2023, when the agreement is scheduled to expire.

To appointment, the visitor has provided costless gigabit net to 30 of the accepted Community Connections sites, according to the city.

The centers that already have access to the service take seen results with more consistent connection and download speeds.

Linda Webb, principal at Garza Independence High School in East Austin, said Google Fiber has immune the school to adapt learning to new tools like videos, and gives the school consistent connection and nearly instant download speed.

Garza Independence is an alternative high school that serves a mix of traditional and nontraditional students. The school relies heavily on technology, and uses Chromebooks for the bulk of class work.

"Today's learners learn differently. They don't want to see pictures. They want to see video and the experience," Webb said.

Aaron Miri, chief information officeholder at the University of Texas Dell Medical School, said high-speed internet connectivity plays an of import role when it comes to community health.

"Nosotros rely on high-speed data networks for research," Miri connected. "We rely on our connection to the Texas Avant-garde Calculating Center. We rely on it to communicate with our patients, particularly those who are in rural areas that we are working with, and we rely on carriers to help u.s.a. when it comes to cellular connectivity and all other sort of connection to the community."

Picayune bear upon on gaming

One of the tech sectors that was expected to do good from Google Fiber access was the video game sector. However, service providers and video game industry experts say there has so far been limited impact on that industry.

"Correct now, you don't really see whatever annihilation that really must have a gigabit. What tends to need that much speed is a number of people doing things in the house all at the same time," said Mike Carrosquilla, senior vice president of operations for Sam Marcos-based Grande Communications.

"If they want to design a game and they want to achieve the maximum audience, then they tend to take to, particularly the PC," Carrosquilla said. "And then they tend to have to blueprint and develop their game for the common denominator of what most people are going to have in their house."

Gordon Walton, president of Austin-based game developer ArtCraft Amusement, agreed that Google Fiber has had express event on the gaming sector.

"There is no one designing games that need that blazon of bandwidth," Walton said.

Games can toll millions of dollars to design, he said. Restricting the market to merely high-speed players reduces sales as well much to be toll constructive.

"We demand to build games for the boilerplate user experience, non the nearly awesome user feel," Walton said.

'Shame the incumbent'

On at least one aspect of Google Fiber'south arrival in Austin, there is no disagreement.

The ultra-high-speed service'due south entrance in the market forced other net providers to upgrade their service options.

"Everywhere they went they did do at to the lowest degree what a lot of us thought they were intending to practise in the first identify, which is a shame the incumbent into providing better service," said Hayes, of the Cobweb Optics Clan.

Austin'due south biggest providers now offer a range of speeds, generally between 100 megabits and 1 gigabit per second. Past comparison, the Federal Communications Commission recommends broadband internet speeds of 12 to 25 megabits per 2d for a household with multiple users.

Hayes said the reward of whatever sort of cobweb connection is bandwidth and reliability. Fiber connections through fiber optic cables are more than efficient at transmitting information than DSL or cable internet.

Higher internet speeds enable multiple users to stream, download a video or play games without worrying about lag.

Since December 2013, AT&T has been offer a range of speeds between 100 megabits per 2nd and 1 gigabit fiber connection.

Spectrum offers a range of speeds between 200 megabits per second and i gigabit using a blended cobweb, coaxial model. It began offering upward to 1 gigabit to Austin residents in December 2017, and information technology has doubled minimum cyberspace speeds in Austin to 200 megabits.

Grande Communications took a more proactive approach to 1 gigabit net, beating Google Fiber as the first isp in Austin to offer the speed by only a few months. The company offers a coaxial model with speeds betwixt 300 megabits per second and 1 gigabit.

"Nosotros've always wanted to be the top cyberspace speed provider at a skilful price," said Carrosquilla. "Five years ago, if you're looking at the tea leaves, you're seeing there's all these things you're going to start attaching to the net. People are using video over the internet more and more, and these kinds of things they kind of merely stacked 1 on superlative of the other until you've outpaced the bandwidth you accept in the business firm."

He said customers increasingly are looking toward higher speeds, switching to plans that give them more bandwidth as the need for speed and streaming becomes more popular.

Austin'southward average internet speed was 143.66 mbps in 2018, one of the fastest average speeds of any U.S. city, according to Speedtest, which tracks net speed and connectivity. Texas speeds averaged 106.98 mbps, while national speeds averaged 95.25 mbps.

Austin'southward improving bandwidth is making information technology easier for emerging technology companies to continue to introduce, he said.

"It'due south good for the infrastructure companies like myself, Google and AT&T to be ahead of the applied science providers because if we're ahead of them, then they can push new technologies by virtue of what we've given them the power to do," Carrosquilla said. "So we can all motion forwards that way, and the consumer comes in correct behind it."

Digital inclusion

Despite bug with the rollout and more limited impact in some business concern sectors than initially hoped, Google Cobweb's archway into the Austin marketplace has left an undeniable banner on the city. The company's efforts to work with underserved communities through programs like Community Connections has been positive, Tovo said.

"As I call up virtually the commitments that Google Cobweb fabricated, it was about really working to help united states of america strengthen our efforts toward digital inclusion throughout the city, and from my perspective, they have definitely been not bad partners in that attempt," she said. "To me, that was a very important process that began at the onset of their entrance into the Austin market."

Sepulveda, of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas, said that Google Fiber has helped Austin residents realize what was possible in terms of loftier-speed connectivity.

"Information technology was (Google) who ignited the contest," Sepulveda said, "and started the change."

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Source: https://www.statesman.com/story/business/technology/2020/01/03/high-speed-high-impact-how-google-fibers-arrival-changed-things-in-austin/1951135007/

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