Austin is about to get Google’s high-speed Internet network — Google Fiber — which runs 100 times faster than today’s average broadband connection.
The news comes just one year after the company announced the service would be offered in Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO, where the region has since built new infrastructure from the ground up, and a tech startup scene has been ignited in the area. That said, Austin is home to several of the nations largest tech company campuses with it’s own established startup culture, so the availability of Google Fiber will only benefit the area through business growth and job creation.
“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,” Google said on its official blog. “We’re sure these folks will do amazing things with gigabit access, and we feel very privileged to have been welcomed to their community.”
Google plans to start connecting homes in Austin by mid-2014, but hasn’t revealed details on pricing just yet. Google said it will also offer Austin residents free Internet service, at a slower 5 megabit per second rate for seven years, provided they pay a one-time construction fee that was not specified. In Kansas City, the fee is $300.
Google Fiber and Austin, Texas seem like a perfect match and will create a win-win scenario for current and new businesses in the area, as well as Austin residents.
Contribution highlights by:
Aaron Gooch, Managing Principal
Gooch Flencher Real Estate, LLC
