Google laying own fibre-optic network

Kansas and Missouri get first taste of Google Fibre

Google has announced that it is ready to begin installing its first fiber-optic broadband network after an extensive planning phase.

The Google Fiber service will be installed in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri, in the US.

For those not familiar with the area, the two cities are right next to each other, separated by a river.

Making the announcement on the Google Fiber Blog, Google Access general manager Kevin Lo said, "We've measured utility poles; we've studied maps and surveyed neighborhoods; we've come up with a comprehensive set of detailed engineering plans; and we've eaten way too much barbecue. Now, starting today, we're ready to lay fiber."

For those less interested in the diet of the Google engineers and more about "Google Fiber", it interesting to note that this roll out is perhaps the first sing that Google is moving into service provision, rather than a service provider.

Google have said that these initial fiber optic cables will then form the "backbone" of a high speed data infrastructure that could carry far more capacity and increase download speeds to "more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have today."

The first stage of the rollout is installing that "backbone", then Google will start connecting up home across both Kansas Cities.

Related links

Google Fiber blog

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