Google Fiber ‘not a hobby,’ could expand, tech giant’s execs say

Google Fiber, the Internet search giant’s super-fast Internet experiment in Kansas City, Mo., that operates at a speed 100 times faster than a typical broadband connection, could be coming to a city near you.

During Google’s fourth-quarter earnings call, Google Chief Executive Larry Page and Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette made it clear Google Fiber is not a “hobby” for the company.

“It’s been great to see the success there with the initial roll-out,” Page said.

He cautioned: “We are still in the very early stages of it.” But he emphasized: “We are excited about the possibilities there.”

Pichette said Google Fiber installations are growing each week. “People just love the product,” he said.

“It’s not a hobby,” he added. “We really think we should be making a good business with this opportunity.”

“We are going to continue to look at the possibility of expanding.”

For the time being, Pichette said Google is “debugging” the product and the experience for users.

But, he said, such super-fast Internet is “what people are dying to get everywhere.”

Last month Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said Google was delivering 760 megabits per second to the customer, and taking 720 megabits a second from customers. He made the remarks during the New York Times Dealbook conference in New York.

Schmidt said Google is thinking about rolling out the service to other cities but did not specify which ones.

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Kansas City will be the first to get Google Fiber high-speed broadband service

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