OpenStack 04/29/2014 (p.m.)

• Exclusive: Google mulling Wi-Fi for cities with Google Fiber - Network World

  Tags: Google, ISP, google-fiber, wireless

  • Google is considering deploying Wi-Fi networks in towns and cities covered by its Google Fiber high-speed Internet service.

    The disclosure is made in a document Google is circulating to 34 cities that are the next candidates to receive Google Fiber in 2015.

  • Specific details of the Wi-Fi plan are not included in the document, which was seen by IDG News Service, but Google says it will be "discussing our Wi-Fi plans and related requirements with your city as we move forward with your city during this planning process."

  • Google Fiber is already available in Provo, Utah, and Kansas City, and is promised soon in Austin, Texas. It delivers a "basic speed" service for no charge, a gigabit-per-second service for US$70 per month and a $120 package that includes a bundle of more than 200 TV channels. Installation costs between nothing and $300.

    Google has sent the 34 cities that are next in line for Google Fiber a detailed request for information and they have until May 1 to reply.

  • Google is also asking cities to identify locations it would be able to install utility huts. Each 12-foot-by-30-foot (3.6-meter-by-9.1-meter) windowless hut needs to allow 24-hour access and be on land Google could lease for about 20 years.

    The huts, of which there will be between one and a handful in each city, would house the main networking equipment. From the hut, fiber cables would run along utility poles -- or in underground fiber ducts if they exist -- and terminate at neighborhood boxes, each serving up to 288 or 587 homes.

    The neighborhood boxes are around the same size or smaller than current utility cabinets often found on city streets.

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