Google sent out some bad news to dozens of cities that are currently waiting for the company to launch Google Fiber, Google's gigabit Internet service that promises super-fast connections to the Internet that are 100 times faster compared to the connections of the average American home.
Google insisted for months that it would be making a decision within the year for when nine areas will be hooked up to Google Fiber, However, Google's new announcement revealed that the decision will be made after the turn of the year.
"This year gigabit Internet has moved from idea to reality, as mayors and city leaders across America have stepped up and made high-speed broadband access a priority for their community," said a spokesperson for Google.
"While we were hoping to have an update for cities before the holidays, we have a bit more work to wrap up," the spokesperson added. "We'll be back in touch sometime early next year."
The nine areas that have been put on hold for receiving Google Fiber are Atlanta, San Jose in California, Charlotte, Durham and Raleigh in North Carolina, Portland in Oregon, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and San Antonio. These nine metro areas collectively include 33 cities.
Google Fiber has only been made available in three locations so far, namely Austin, Kansas City and Provo, Utah.
According to the Triangle Business Journal, Google has learned to be a bit more methodical in rolling out Google Fiber in other cities. The experiences with the three locations where the service is already available have taught the company to first have the officials of each city completely understand what Google Fiber brings to their locations early on in the process.
Google Fiber business development director Jill Szuchmacher compared working with certain cities to "getting married without having ever dated," highlighting the need to have several conversations between Google and city officials up front.
Szuchmacher added that Google Fiber will also be doing checks on infrastructure that Google Fiber will use, saying that there will be no excavations needed on streets if such infrastructure is already available.
Google needs to hurry up though, as AT&T is also releasing fiber connections in cities all over the country and could take away Google's potential customers if the delays last much longer.
Google Fiber promises speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps, which would lead to crystal clear HD viewing, added TV capabilities, additional cloud storage and powerful Wi-Fi.
