By Alistair Barr
Google Inc. is preparing to offer its high-speed fiber-optic
Internet service in four new metro areas, the latest step in a
careful expansion of the service.
Google will announce launches of Google Fiber in Atlanta,
Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh-Durham, N.C. and Nashville, Tenn. in
coming days, according to two people familiar with the
situation.
Google recently sent invitations to local news organizations in
those four cities to attend events this week, without identifying
the subject. The Atlanta and Nashville events are scheduled for
Tuesday, Raleigh and Charlotte on Wednesday and Durham Thursday,
according to local news reports.
A Google spokeswoman declined to comment. Officials in the four
areas didn't return requests for comment.
In February 2014, Google said it was considering building Fiber
in nine new metro areas. The other cities are Salt Lake City, San
Antonio, Phoenix, Portland, Ore. and San Jose, Calif. Google has
told some officials in those cities that it hasn't ruled them out,
and has yet to make a final decision.
David Vossbrink, a spokesman for the city of San Jose, said a
Google Fiber official told him Monday that Google would be
announcing expansion cities beginning Tuesday. "The message was
that these announcements should not be considered the end of the
road for the other areas," Mr. Vossbrink said.
Google Fiber offers Internet connections at speeds of up to one
gigabit per second--roughly 10 times as fast as the average U.S.
Internet connection--in Kansas City, Austin, Texas and Provo,
Utah.
In Kansas City, where the service first launched in 2012, Google
charges $80 a month for the gigabit service and $120 a month for
Internet plus a cable-style TV package. A slower version is free
after a one-time construction fee.
After announcing plans to enter a city, Google typically takes
more than a year to build out its network to reach homes and
businesses in the area. The company gauges demand by neighborhood,
only building the network in places that express sufficient
interest.
On Wall Street, the project is considered by many investors and
analysts as an expensive experiment to try to persuade other
broadband Internet providers to upgrade their own networks. But
Google executives have said that it is a real business and the
company has worked hard to build the service efficiently.
In the Portland area, Oregon tax-assessment rules are delaying a
decision by Google to expand its Fiber service there, according to
a person familiar with the situation. Oregon assesses utilities
using a tax formula that values those companies' property based on
the value of their intangible assets, such as brand. It isn't clear
if this approach would apply to Google, and the state legislature
is planning to tackle the issue in coming months. However, it has
created uncertainty for the company, the person said.
Write to Alistair Barr at alistair.barr@wsj.com
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