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Fiber for Provo
By Anca Gagiuc on Apr 26, 2013 in Technology
In early 2000, the city of Provo, Utah decided that the city and its residents would have a lot to gain from access to high speed connectivity. In 2004, it began the construction of iProvo, the Fiber to Home service, and the project was completed within the following two years.
Homes and businesses, municipal buildings and schools, power stations and traffic signals, were now connected throughout the city. Since then, the service changed owners several times due to financial reasons, until last week when the city council voted unanimously to reclaim ownership and find a buyer for the “troubled iProvo network.” About $39 million in bond debt was issued to build it, and the network has not yet been run in a financially sustainable way. Google saw an opportunity.
According to Provo’s press release and Google’s blog post, Google has now purchased the fiber-optic network. Kansas City and Austin will likely have a third sister city with access to Google Fiber if the City Council votes in favor of the agreement this week.
If the agreement is approved this week, the network will be upgraded to meet the current standards. When the work is complete, they will offer their “Free Internet service (5 Mbps speeds) to every home along the existing Provo network, for a $30 activation fee and no monthly charge for at least seven years.”
On top of that, the giant promises to offer “Google Fiber Gigabit Internet—up to 100x faster Internet than today’s average broadband speeds—and the option for Google Fiber TV service with hundreds of your favorite channels. We’d also provide free Gigabit Internet service to 25 local public institutions like schools, hospitals and libraries”, says Kevin Lo, GM of Google Fiber.
Provo’s inhabitants responded well to the previous fiber service, with 10,000 residents subscribed by late 2007. Google intends to connect the entire city, approximately 112,000 people, and considering the head-start Provo’s got through the already existing network, Austin might not be the second U.S. city to provide 100 times faster Internet and Google Fiber TV to its residents.
