Danny Lucio, community impact manager for Google Fiber in Austin, said the provider is still working on construction in several areas in the south but has a license to serve the entire city of Austin.
“We’ve been working on construction on the network for the past few years,” Lucio said. “In that time, we’ve learned about some of the different ways and best practices on how to build a network. I don’t know where our next push for construction is going to be for the city, but we have permits all around the city that we can consider. I think what we really need to focus on is finishing our portion in South Austin first.”
The South Austin coverage area includes anything from Onion Creek down to Dove Springs in Montopolis and over to Circle C. Lucio said there are still portions of South Austin that have not received the service yet, but the goal is to eventually connect the entire area.
“We are still learning how to best effectively create this super fast, from scratch internet," Lucio said. “We are looking to complete the places we’ve started construction before the end of 2018. There will be some pockets in South Austin but most of South Austin will have the service.”
What's the difference?
In the United States, the average internet speed is about 18 megabites per second, Lucio said. He said gigabit internet is about 50 times faster than the average home speed because of its direct access.
The fiber optic cable comes right up to the home. Lucio said though a lot of other service providers provide fiber optic cables for their main backbone, that last connection to the home might be through a coaxial cable, which can slow speeds considerably.
“That’s not what we do,” Lucio said. “We bring the fiber optic cable to every single home that we connect to in Austin, which means you are getting a full gigabit speed.”
The high-speed internet makes it easier to download a high definition movie in just minutes and has the bandwidth to connect to multiple devices in the home.
Lucio said the service is available for residential and commercial users. He said tons of homes, businesses, nonprofits and public entities are currently connected to Google Fiber in South Austin.
Am I eligible for service?
Lucio said the company is still constructing the lines in areas all over South Austin, but most areas are already accessible. Residents can get on the website and check if their address is eligible for service. No deposit is required.
Packages are available for all households and businesses including internet, phone and cable bundles and options.
“We’ve had an extremely warm reception among residents in Austin,” Lucio said. “The city has been so welcoming and has been willing to work with Google Fiber in building a state of the art network.”
