Google Is Looking to Bring Fiber to Chicago

Google Fiber is now up and running in Kansas City, Austin and Provo, Utah; and Google has committed to launching its internet service in Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City and San Antonio.

Google has revealed that two of the largest cities so far have been added to the list of potential candidate location for its gigabit internet service, Google Fiber: Los Angeles and Chicago.

All cities have (or will eventually have) access to symmetrical gigabit fiber for $70 a month, or symmetrical fiber and TV service for $130 a month. It has not formally applied for those city approvals, though, and has set no timetable for making a decision on Portland.

“Today, we’re inviting Chicago and Los Angeles to explore bringing Google Fiber to their cities”. Afterwards, Google deliberates and reviews for an unspecified amount of time.

But Google really wants to bring these two big cities on board. AT&T’s 1-gigabit-per-second offering became available in June.

This is a very preliminary stage of the Fiber rollout, so it could be a while before residents of these cities see sign-ups begin, but the Fiber team said it is talking to city officials to see what can be done. The company is going through their checklist process and will be in discussion with city leaders.

Similar to other cities it has cited as potential targets like Jacksonville and Tampa, Fla., Google will take methodical steps to see whether it’s feasible to roll out FTTH in the two cities.

But if it does, it will amp up competition in those markets. Chicago and L.A. are the two largest metro areas the company has engaged with to date, and it is hoping to woo the cities by saying they “can boost their creative cultures with Internet speed to match their size”. AT&T does not offer local service anywhere in the Northwest.