Google Fiber Expands In Kansas, Will Enter Shawnee Area

Google is rapidly expanding its Google Fiber network, announcing service on Friday for citizens in the city of Shawnee.

The Shawnee City Council voted on May 2 to allow for the expansion of the Google Fiber network. Google first launched its new high-speed data network in Kansas City with promises to expand the service after initial testing.

On the Google Fiber blog, a representative for the service writes that the company still has “a lot of planning and engineering work to do before we’re ready to bring Fiber to Shawnee.”

Google has promised to update the Fiber blog when more information is made available.

Shawnee joins a host of other cities that are receiving Google Fiber. Those cities including Olathe, Kansas; Austin, Texas; and Provo, Utah.

We should expect to witness a rapid increase in Google Fiber’s reach now that multiple providers have surfaced to take on the provider. AT&T recently announced a gigabit fiber network of its own in Austin and CenturyLink is already building a pilot program for gigabit service in Omaha.

As previously reported Vermont Telephone (Vtel) has launched a rural gigabit service of its own. VTel was helped along by nearly $100 million in government grants.

The number of “zero TV” households has continued to increase as more users turn towards Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and other online video services. As more customers move their music, video viewing, and file sharing onto the internet, the need for faster connections continues to increase.

Do you think Google Fiber is the future of online data services? Or did Google launch the service in order to light a fire under other providers so they would create the faster internet Google has pined for over the years?