Google Fiber Expanding To More Cities

Google announced on the Google Fiber Blog yesterday the company is expanding its high-speed fiber optic network to Olathe, another city in Kansas.

“Hopefully, this is the first of several announcements that we’ll be able to make about bringing Google Fiber to additional cities in the KC metro area; so stay tuned,” wrote Rachel Hack, a Google Fiber community manager.

Google made the announcement after the Olathe City Council approved an agreement with Google yesterday afternoon. The city will receive a 5% franchise fee from Google based on gross revenue, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal about the deal.

Residents of Olathe will pay $70 a month for Fiber service, if all they want is Internet. They can add TV and DVR service for $120 a month. The DVR can record 500 hours of TV programing, eight shows at a time. If you live in a Google Fiber network and don’t have the need for speed, Google will give you five megabits per second Internet access for FREE after a $300 set-up fee.

Olathe is a suburb of Kansas City. With a population of about 126,000, it is the fifth most populated city in the state. In 2008 CNN/Money ranked it #11 on its list of “100 Best Cities to Live in the United States.” The introduction of Google Fiber in Olathe should bump it up to at least the top five.

That’s really exciting for folks who live in Kansas. What about the rest of us?

Google owns more unused, network fiber than any other organization. Google has never formally announced its plans for all the Fiber, but it doesn’t take a futurist to guess that they want to do everywhere what they started in Kasas City.

Next up may be New York City.

Early this year, Google posted a job opening for a Google Fiber sales representative in New York:

“As a Fiber Sales Representative you will support plan for our approach in the market including multi unit dwellings, small business, restaurants, and hotels. You’ll reach out proactively to both small businesses, while articulating how Google Fiber Solutions can help make their work more productive.”