4 ms·

I think there are two big reasons: The market changed. When they launched Fiber, they're announcement was reminiscent of GMail when it launched. Back then, g

by mdip 10y ago

I think there are two big reasons: The market changed. When they launched Fiber, they're announcement was reminiscent of GMail when it launched. Back then, getting a 15-30MB free web mailbox was normal and Google announced a start at 2GB. Memory may not serve me perfectly, but I believe when they launched Fiber, there wasn't a single ISP offering residential service at 1Gbps and very few at even 100Mbps. I live in a city that is neither Fiber available or even on the list of future Fiber cities, but I can get multi-gig service for the price that I think the 100Mbps service was offered when Fiber launched. Most of this happened because of Google Fiber -- these companies were not terribly interested in increasing their capacity and service before, but knowing that a huge company like Google, who realistically had the funds to do a roll out, was potentially going to invade their monopoly territories was enough to get the market to move. This also, unfortunately, reduced the need for them to do it. Market-wise, they'd have to fight harder for customers since their service may not be so much faster/better/cheaper to get people to endure the hassle of switching. The reality of what the market is was discovered. They had hoped they'd be able to do the roll out cheaper, with the involvement of local regulatory bodies itching to have their cities added to the program and paving over regulations that historically made doing a roll out like this very expensive, time consuming and difficult. The incumbents, who already had networks and had to deal with and work through those same regulations cried foul, started suing and made this all more costly and difficult. Back to point #1, with other ISPs offering service at a similar speed and at a far reduced price from when Fiber launched, this took some of the motivation to pave over those regulations away from the regulatory bodies. And this is all without the reality that many of those elected officials who make the laws that caused these problems have their re-election paid for by the AT&Ts, Comcasts and Verizons to a far greater extent than they do Google, so they're even less motivated to help them out.

shmerl 10y ago
But now that GF is slowing down, incumbents will fall back into their monopolistic slumber. Without threat of competition, they won't be motivated to spread their upgrades wider. So in a sense, yes, spreading more Google Fiber makes monopolists compete, which makes spreading it harder, but that was the whole point for Google, wasn't it? So if they back down now, their goals will be compromised.
- mdip 10y ago
  I see the point you're making and it's valid, however, there's one component that's missing. Unlike prior to Fiber, there's now Gigabit offerings from Comcast and AT&T and in many places, Comcast and AT&T are the two available options for internet service. In reality, it's the fact that those two companies are providing Gigabit (and multi-gig service) that's causing the expansion of gigabit service nationwide at this point. Google Fiber was never offered in my area nor was it even hinted at being a future Fiber city, but Comcast currently offers multi-gig service. I'm not sure about AT&T because my past experience with them has had me swear them off. They could offer next-to-free service and I'd turn it down, so I don't pay attention to their offerings in my area, but I am able to get top-tier U-Verse TV/Internet in my home so I'd imagine gig will be around the corner at some point. Google Fiber wouldn't cause this expansion over here, though it may have been responsible for the initial expansion (or even the idea of delivering speeds like that to consumers). The "cat is out of the bag" so to say. The (limited) competition exists and isn't going to go away with Fiber out of the picture. I think Google saw this and realized it was a somewhat safe time to shed the expense/headaches they're having getting Fiber rolled out nationwide. And then there's the start-up factor. In the City of Detroit, I'm aware of one small company that's offering (building-to-building) gigabit service on par with Google Fiber. These micro-ISPs probably won't get a footprint the size of Fiber, but if enough of them pop up, the combined numbers might reach that point, further forcing the incumbent's hands. It's not a terrible business to get into the way some of these start-ups are funding their efforts. The fact stands that practically nobody who has worked with the customer service arms of their "big company" ISPs anything positive to say about them. I pay 2.5 times the price of residential broadband for the same speed to get better customer service out of Comcast[0], and I wouldn't dream of leaving Comcast Business for AT&T Business or Comcast or AT&T consumer. I work at home, I need reliable service without caps and nonsense, and I need to know I can get a service call handled quickly when problems arise. If a start-up came to my area offering faster speeds at the same or better price, despite my relative happiness with Comcast, I'd switch just because I know at some point they're going to discover the expense they're paying for Comcast Business's service isn't necessary because "We're a utility company. We don't have to care." [0] The service paid for itself a while back when I took the bait for U-Verse TV service (offered at a huge discount for 6-months and no cancellation penalty -- yes, I cancelled), and the contractor from AT&T -- who's eyes were bloodshot and speech was slurred -- came to bury my U-Verse wire and managed to cleanly slice my Comcast Business Internet cable. I called at 5:00 PM and they had a guy out at 6:30 PM same day who ran a completely new cable, hooked it all back up, and did so apologising for the service disruption that was their competitor's inept contractor's fault. He was done by 7:00 PM and despite this not being Comcast's fault, I was not charged for the service call (which I would have been fine with paying for). I have not had a single outage lasting more than 15 minutes in three years (which was one time, though, luck may be a factor here), and their Business help line gets me to a proper English speaking representative who doesn't just recite "did you turn it on and then off again" from a script. It's actually a bit distressing knowing that this same company, which deserves its terrible service reputation on the residential side is perfectly capable of providing service bordering on fantastic, but just doesn't (unless you opt into a substantially higher bill).

by mdip 10y ago

shmerl 10y ago

But now that GF is slowing down, incumbents will fall back into their monopolistic slumber. Without threat of competition, they won't be motivated to spread their upgrades wider. So in a sense, yes, spreading more Google Fiber makes monopolists compete, which makes spreading it harder, but that was the whole point for Google, wasn't it? So if they back down now, their goals will be compromised.

mdip 10y ago
I see the point you're making and it's valid, however, there's one component that's missing. Unlike prior to Fiber, there's now Gigabit offerings from Comcast and AT&T and in many places, Comcast and AT&T are the two available options for internet service. In reality, it's the fact that those two companies are providing Gigabit (and multi-gig service) that's causing the expansion of gigabit service nationwide at this point. Google Fiber was never offered in my area nor was it even hinted at being a future Fiber city, but Comcast currently offers multi-gig service. I'm not sure about AT&T because my past experience with them has had me swear them off. They could offer next-to-free service and I'd turn it down, so I don't pay attention to their offerings in my area, but I am able to get top-tier U-Verse TV/Internet in my home so I'd imagine gig will be around the corner at some point. Google Fiber wouldn't cause this expansion over here, though it may have been responsible for the initial expansion (or even the idea of delivering speeds like that to consumers). The "cat is out of the bag" so to say. The (limited) competition exists and isn't going to go away with Fiber out of the picture. I think Google saw this and realized it was a somewhat safe time to shed the expense/headaches they're having getting Fiber rolled out nationwide. And then there's the start-up factor. In the City of Detroit, I'm aware of one small company that's offering (building-to-building) gigabit service on par with Google Fiber. These micro-ISPs probably won't get a footprint the size of Fiber, but if enough of them pop up, the combined numbers might reach that point, further forcing the incumbent's hands. It's not a terrible business to get into the way some of these start-ups are funding their efforts. The fact stands that practically nobody who has worked with the customer service arms of their "big company" ISPs anything positive to say about them. I pay 2.5 times the price of residential broadband for the same speed to get better customer service out of Comcast[0], and I wouldn't dream of leaving Comcast Business for AT&T Business or Comcast or AT&T consumer. I work at home, I need reliable service without caps and nonsense, and I need to know I can get a service call handled quickly when problems arise. If a start-up came to my area offering faster speeds at the same or better price, despite my relative happiness with Comcast, I'd switch just because I know at some point they're going to discover the expense they're paying for Comcast Business's service isn't necessary because "We're a utility company. We don't have to care." [0] The service paid for itself a while back when I took the bait for U-Verse TV service (offered at a huge discount for 6-months and no cancellation penalty -- yes, I cancelled), and the contractor from AT&T -- who's eyes were bloodshot and speech was slurred -- came to bury my U-Verse wire and managed to cleanly slice my Comcast Business Internet cable. I called at 5:00 PM and they had a guy out at 6:30 PM same day who ran a completely new cable, hooked it all back up, and did so apologising for the service disruption that was their competitor's inept contractor's fault. He was done by 7:00 PM and despite this not being Comcast's fault, I was not charged for the service call (which I would have been fine with paying for). I have not had a single outage lasting more than 15 minutes in three years (which was one time, though, luck may be a factor here), and their Business help line gets me to a proper English speaking representative who doesn't just recite "did you turn it on and then off again" from a script. It's actually a bit distressing knowing that this same company, which deserves its terrible service reputation on the residential side is perfectly capable of providing service bordering on fantastic, but just doesn't (unless you opt into a substantially higher bill).