Google Fiber Is Coming To Huntsville, Alabama

Add Huntsville, Alabama, to the ranks of cities with the Google Fiber broadband service. But it’s not an exclusive deal, so other Internet providers could offer broadband over the same fiber. This burgeoning “Silicon Southeast” is a ideal testbed for Google Fiber – a unique partnership with the city, and an incredibly high demand from customers and from area businesses will let Google see what their service is really capable of, and perhaps most importantly, what it’s not. The goal for Huntsville: using part of the fiber network that Huntsville Utilities is building, Google Fiber will begin connecting homes and businesses next year with a complete roll out by 2020.

And now, in order to prepare municipal Information Technology services, local electric grid technology and more for the future, Huntsville Utilities is going to invest in new fiber infrastructure. In Huntsville, the company is piggybacking on the fiber network that Huntsville Utilities is building in the city. In Provo, Utah, for example, Google purchased an existing but troubled municipally owned network, iProvo, to get things off the ground.

Where to find Google Fiber.

Mostly, Google Fiber networks have been built from scratch, but the company has taken other approaches as well. After that, Google Fiber can bring the company’s lauded gigabit-speed to Huntsville, but that won’t be until 2017 at the earliest, Google said.

Google hasn’t provided word on when the gigabit Internet will launch in Huntsville, as it still has to go through final approval. But in some cities, Google is taking advantage of existing infrastructure. It is as vital to our quality of life as roads, water, sewer and electricity.

Huntsville has the highest concentration of engineers in the country, and is among the best places in the United States for STEM workers, Szuchmacher says.