Google Fiber coming to Austin
Google and the city of Austin, Texas announced Tuesday that that the ultra-fast broadband program is expanding to the Lone Star State.
"Today we're here to announce that Google Fiber is coming to Austin, Texas," Austin mayor Lee Leffingwell said at a press event.
Fiber is the search giant's broadband Internet service. Users can see Internet speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second -- about 100 times faster than current speeds. Austin is the second major U.S. city to get Fiber.
The search giant has had an office in Austin since 2009 and praised the city for being a tech savvy.
"It's a mecca for creativity and entrepreneurialism, with thriving artistic and tech communities, as well as the University of Texas and its new medical research hospital," Milo Medin, vice president of access services, said in a blog post.
Fiber began rolling out in Kansas City in November 2012. It's expected that Austin residents will pay similar prices with Kansas City. Customers now pay a $300 installation fee, and can choose to pay $70 a month for Internet. There is also a cable-like service that costs an additional $50 a month. The $300 fee is waived for customers who purchase a bundle.
Google says it hopes to start rolling out the program in Austin by mid-2014.
