Google Inc. is currently building its network in Austin to provide high-speed Internet service. With plans to extend the network to Central Texas, Google claims it has a great amount of remaining work to complete in Austin before moving to other areas of Texas.
According to a blog titled, “Pardon Our Dust in Austin,” the head of Google Fiber in Austin, Mark Strama, asserted that its local network “will one day include more than 3,000 miles of brand new, state-of-the-art fiber optic cables,” about equivalent to the size of the longest interstate highway in the U.S. or from Boston to Seattle.
“Since we don’t use any existing copper cables, we’ve been planning and designing our network from scratch. Today we have a detailed network plan in place and our crews are hard at work constructing the network, starting with the core infrastructure that will form the foundation of Google Fiber in Austin,” wrote Strama.
The Kansas City areas and Provo, Utah, areas, have successfully been introduced to Google Fiber, yet Google has been facing a variety of difficulties in Austin, for existing copper cables can’t be used. Because of this, the basis of Google Fiber in Austin will be developed by workers. “Underground or in the air, pardon our dust — in order to bring Google Fiber to a city, a whole lot of heavy lifting has to happen!” Strama said. “We are working to build our fiber network in Austin with as much efficiency and as little disruption as possible, but this size of a construction effort is bound to affect a few Austinites day-to-day.” The release date of the service and the areas of Austin to receive the Internet service first have not been verified, but it is estimated to be introduced by the end of 2014. City-issued permits showed the installation of thousands of feet of cable pathways running along 176 city streets primarily in South and East Austin. “Over time, our network will grow to thousands of miles of fiber, stretching through underground conduit as well as across utility poles. That’s why we have crews that specialize in both underground and aerial construction…,” stated Strama.
Even when Google Fiber is installed, few choices will be offered to those looking for faster Internet speeds than previously provided. Since 2013, Grande Communications and AT&T have been providing high-speed fiber Internet service, and AT&T has upcoming plans to increase its speeds of 300 megabits per second to gigabit speeds. GeoTel Communications, LLC, provides fiber network maps that help businesses locate fiber to enhance connectivity. In addition, our Fiber Lit Buildings dataset helps locate the carriers that have fiber presence. If interested in obtaining these datasets, call 407.788.8888
