Google Fiber coming to Charlotte?

[Matthew.Brendan]

Please please please....

[AuLukey]

I do find it odd that the many cities within the Triangle are being considered while only Charlotte is being considered here.  Are Concord, Gastonia, Rock Hill, Mooresville, etc not hip enough?  RST already has lines running through a lot of the burbs.

 

I understand the need for an initial payment of $300 which helps cover the cost of actually running fiber to the house and connecting it.  But here's my question: if you move, does the next homeowner need to pay the fee as well?  Or does the fact that the house is already wired just add onto the value of the home?  Seems like a pretty cool selling point for people to move into city limits rather than the burbs.

 

While Google Fiber coming to Charlotte would vastly help those in city limits, it could also benefit those outside city limits as well.  Think of all that free bandwidth Time Warner/Comcast will have on their lines/hubs when half the metro switches to Google.  I'm not sure it would realistically work that way, but I'm sure some changes in service would be noticeable to those outside the city limits.  Not to mention this would put pressure on internet providers in the area to drop rates or change the way packages are put together. 

[Matthew.Brendan]

"One advantage that North Carolina could exploit that other states lack is NCREN, which goes to places commercial providers won't because of sparse populations and perceived limited economic payback. But NCREN works with all comers and has dark fiber for lease."

 

http://wraltechwire.com/google-fiber-impact-mcnc-sees-north-carolina-as-the-gigastate-at-t-ready-for-a-challenge/13413708/

[AuLukey]

While this is only a test, Comcast is already researching Charlotte and testing a 1 Tbps line between here and Asburn, VA.  Presently, according to the article, there are only two pipelines in the world running at this speed.  This happened back in October, before news ever hit about Time Warner and Comcast's proposed deal.  I wonder what they're up to...

[The ATX]

The problem getting Google Fiber up and running in Austin may be more of a local issue.  From the limited amount of press I have seen on it, it appears that Time Warner (who owns the infrastructure and is the largest internet provider in Austin) wasn't too willing to work with Google.  Google was then going to the city for help, but decided to continue negotiating with Time Warner for access.  And that's where we still are as far as I know.

[MilZ]

Ok, so I wondered into RST's social media, and the last facebook update was "RST has a major announcement coming in February. Stay tuned North Carolina!"

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/RST-Fiber/181212235286920

So I'm guessing this is what the upcoming announcement was.

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/outside_the_loop/2014/03/rst-fiber-of-shelby-now-reaches-across-nc-with.html

[TheBigShamrock8]

I applaud what they are doing but in that picture they look like they work out of a garage.

[AuLukey]

I applaud what they are doing but in that picture they look like they work out of a garage.

 

They call that Class A office space in Shelby

[MilZ]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/04/21/4855997/att-looks-to-bring-super-fast.html#.U1XLsX-9KSM

Google v RST (w Cisco) v AT&T... I think we'll probably have fiber-optic options in Charlotte in the near future.

[Matthew.Brendan]

If anything I hope that RST's existing infrastructure is a nice lure for a potential a Google buyout.

[Third Strike]

Charlotte is moving ahead to submit their application for Google Fiber:

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/04/28/4872554/city-to-move-forward-with-google.html#.U184DFfiiHg

 

We should hear something by the end of the year.

 

Some info on Fiber in Charlotte from the article:

 

The city released a list of 31 sites for so-called “Fiber Huts,” which Google would build to help bring the service to people’s homes.  The huts would be located on sites such as city-owned fire stations, water tanks, the police and fire academy, a landfill and even Evergreen Cemetery in east Charlotte.

 

The city said Google hasn’t asked for any financial incentives to build the Internet system. The “huts” would be 1,400 square feet each and would serve about 20,000 households. The city would lease the land for the huts for a 20-year term.

 

 

So, if I'm getting this right, the closer you are to city-owned land or utility, the higher chance you have of being covered by Google's Fiber Huts.

[go_vertical]

Sounds similar to how AT&T Uverse works. You have to be within so many feet of one of the "nodes" in order to be able to get it.

Edited April 29, 2014 by go_vertical

[CLTProductions]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/05/01/4878915/google-praises-charlottes-google.html#.U2ODR-ZdUx0

 

Well this seems to be some good news

[kateinuptown]

TWC is chomping at the bit to get me to sign a two-year contract with them for my internet - HA! It crashes every day, usually multiple times per day. I wish I could say that I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. I would switch back to U-verse, but again, they want a contract, and if there is any chance of Fiber being in place within the next year, I don't want to be stuck in a contract when it happens.

[Matthew.Brendan]

Even if selected, Google Fiber will not be live in one year.

[Urbanity]

Take it with a grain of salt but I understand a rep from Google will be speaking at UNCC Portal building in early August

[Niner National]

I'd say our chances are pretty good. Both in Charlotte and Raleigh. RST Fiber has laid much of the infrastructure already. Google can simply lease or purchase that and get a network up and running in NC much faster than in areas where they'd have to start from scratch.

[CLTProductions]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/07/21/5055949/google-fiber-team-works-to-bring.html

 

Here's an article about the Google Fiber teams in CLT. Bring it on!

[go_vertical]

I really hope Google decides to go ahead with Charlotte. I happily dropped my TWC cable service and now only have Internet through them since Uverse doesn't quite reach my house. I cannot wait until I never have to call Time Warner again. We absolutely need more competition in this area.

[CLTProductions]

I really hope Google decides to go ahead with Charlotte. I happily dropped my TWC cable service and now only have Internet through them since Uverse doesn't quite reach my house. I cannot wait until I never have to call Time Warner again. We absolutely need more competition in this area.

Couldn't agree more. Would absolutely drop all cable no doubt about it, and pay the $70 a month for the 1gigabit

Edited July 21, 2014 by Jayvee

[CLTProductions]

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2014/07/30/at-t-leapfrogs-google-says-it-will-bring-super.html

 

Holy crap this is exciting news!! We have companies fighting with each other to be first to bring Charlotte super-speed internet 

[Urbanity]

Honestly, I would rather Google for two reasons:  I've heard AT&T is not as super fast as they claim, and frankly the PR factor of being one of the few cities that have it - would be nice for tech marketing.

 

That said - I ain't thumbing my nose at getting either in general.

[CLTProductions]

Honestly, I would rather Google for two reasons:  I've heard AT&T is not as super fast as they claim, and frankly the PR factor of being one of the few cities that have it - would be nice for tech marketing.

 

That said - I ain't thumbing my nose at getting either in general.

Agreed I would prefer Google to AT&T, but either way I am excited and maybe this will kick Google into high gear.

[New Name]

How do these companies provide service? Is it by overhead wires coming into houses?

[Niner National]

How do these companies provide service? Is it by overhead wires coming into houses?

Combination of overhead and underground wires. Depends on where you live. New construction is normally wired with underground wires while in older areas it is often cheap (or the only option) to run the wires on poles.

 

If you look at the poles in Charlotte, you'll either see a metal band on them at about eye level that says Duke or AT&T.