Google looking to expand super-fast Fiber service to Provo, Utah

After loudly announcing its expansion to Austin, Texas, last week, Google on Wednesday used a simple blog post to let users know it hopes to also bring Fiber, its high-speed Internet service, to Provo, Utah.

The Silicon Valley giant is hoping the Provo City Council will approve an acquisition agreement between it and iProvo, a fiber optic network the city began building in 2004. Provo has been looking for a partner since 2011 to finish building out the network.

Google will pay $1 under a deal that would include Google finishing and upgrading the network to be able to provide speeds of 1 gigabit.

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Once Fiber goes live, Google said it will provide Provo residents with Internet speeds of 5-megabytes per second for seven years after a one-time $30 activation fee. It will also offer residents an option for a 100-megabits-per-second service that includes Google Fiber TV featuring 200 HD channels. In the Kansas City area, where Fiber is already live, Google Fiber costs $70 a month for Internet access and $120 for both Internet and TV service.

The Mountain View, Calif., company also said that if the Provo City Council approves its acquisition, it will provide up to 25 local public institutions, such as schools, hospitals and libraries, with free Google Fiber service.

The Provo City Council vote is scheduled for April 23, according to Google, and the company is pushing hard to get the acquisition approved.

“We believe the future of the Internet will be built on gigabit speeds, and we’re sure the businesses and residents of Provo already have some good ideas for what they’d build with a gig,” Google said in a blog post.

Google did not say how soon Google Fiber could go live in Provo, Utah, but the company said that if approved, it will immediately begin to upgrade iProvo’s network to gigabit speeds.

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