Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Google Fiber Austin Prices Are Released

Google released it's prices for Austin, TX today and they are in-line with what we've been expecting!

Basic Internet will cost a one-time fee of $300 (+T&F), prorated over a 12-month period. Download speed will be 5Mbps, but upload speed will be only 1Mbps. It's been written elsewhere that they will provide this tier for 7 or more years.

Gigabit Internet will cost $70/mo (+T&F), and the $300 construction fee will be waived if you keep the service for at least a year. It will also come with 1TB of online storage which is shared between your Google Drive, Gmail and Google+ Photos accounts. You will be able to upload at the same speed as you can download. 1Gbps = 1000Mbps.

The top tier, Gigabit + TV includes everything from Gigabit Internet plus 150 channels for $130/mo. It's been written elsewhere that this comes with a tablet PC to use as a remote control, and additional "TV tuners" will cost $5/mo.

If none of those tiers is a perfect fit for your needs or budget, consider at least getting Basic Internet. I'm hoping Google will eventually provide a half-gigabit symetric service for perhaps $50/mo. You might also get Gigabit Internet and share it with your surrounding neighbors to split the cost.

Apartment and condo dwellers can appeal to their property managers to have Google Fiber installed too. A few years from now, apartments with Google Fiber will be the standard. Those without it will be the ones left un-rented when school starts in the fall, haha.

Read a bit more about Google Fiber in Austin here:
https://fiber.google.com/helloaustin/

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=1210094DGJJ5