Watch the press conference on link:
https://www.periscope.tv/CityofJax/1ZkKzPkLQQXJv (https://www.periscope.tv/CityofJax/1ZkKzPkLQQXJv)
Hmmmmm . . . the momentum train keeps rolling.
WOW that's awesome! Big news if they expand here because tech companies will follow!
Press Release:
GOOGLE FIBER CONSIDERING JACKSONVILLE FOR
ULTRA HIGH-SPEED INTERNET ACCESS
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct. 28, 2015 – Today, Mayor Lenny Curry joined Google Fiber representatives for an announcement revealing that if selected, Jacksonville would be one of the first cities in the state of Florida to receive a brand new superfast broadband network.
Improving broadband speeds and choice for Jacksonville residents are integral to its growth. Today's average American broadband speed is 11.7 Megabits per second. In contrast, Google Fiber could bring Jacksonville residents access to gigabit Internet up to 1,000 Megabits per second—or up to 85 times faster than average speeds in America.
"In this increasingly competitive and global economy, access to quality and high-speed internet service is crucial to making sure Jacksonville is well-placed for continued economic growth," said Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry. "Jacksonville is quickly growing as a tech and innovation hub for our region, and access to a robust fiber-optic network like Google Fiber will put us in a stronger position. I am incredibly excited to work with Google and other city leaders to explore this opportunity."
Consumer demand for faster Internet speeds is at an all-time high. Many of the things people love to do online — from gaming to streaming — require a lot of bandwidth. Families want faster speeds at home to do what they love to do on the Web, without buffering or fighting over bandwidth during primetime. And fiber networks aren't just about meeting today's speed needs. This year, the White House made faster Internet speeds a priority, citing the need to drive innovation, foster investment in new industries, and ensure that America is competitive in the global economy. The next leap in Internet speeds — to gigabit Internet — will lead to innovation that's unimaginable today.
"Abundant high-speed Internet can help communities grow stronger, laying a foundation for innovation and economic growth," said Jill Szuchmacher, Director of Expansion, Google Fiber. "City leaders like Mayor Curry have taken a big step to see what they can do to bring superfast fiber networks to residents and businesses. We look forward to working side-by-side with Jacksonville in the coming months to explore the possibility of bringing Google Fiber to the city."
Starting this week, Google will work closely with Mayor Curry and city leaders on a joint planning process to explore what it would take to build a brand new fiber-optic network capable of delivering these gigabit speeds throughout Jacksonville. Google will begin compiling a detailed study of local factors that may include construction plans. Simultaneously, Mayor Curry and city leaders will meet with Google executives to discuss the plans required to prepare the city for a fiber project of this scale.
Google Fiber is an Internet and TV service that provides Internet connectivity up to 1 gigabit — 85 times faster than average speeds in America, along with hundreds of HD TV channels. Google Fiber is currently available in Kansas City, KS; Kansas City, MO; Provo, UT; and Austin, TX. Google Fiber is in the process of expanding to six additional metro areas: Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; Nashville, TN; Raleigh-Durham, NC; Salt Lake City, UT; and San Antonio, TX.
For more information about this announcement, visit the Google Fiber blog.
###
Yep we need more tech!
That would be awesome. I really, really wish there was another option in my area besides Comcast.
Sign up for updates when it's available at your address:
https://fiber.google.com/cities/jacksonville/
:D :D :D
Having the fastest growing international NAP in downtown Jacksonville plays a role in this decision.
Choices on content with speed is a good thing.
However, Google doesnt do this out of the goodness of their heart, they want to collect data to push ads. More fiber, more ads.
While Google Fiber has good PR cache, I havent seen any data that the service attracts new business.
Frankly the growth of ads on YouTube is reaching the breaking point. I am about ready to drop it.
I brought up the idea about Google Fiber over a year ago, and got laughed at.
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php?topic=21113.0 (http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php?topic=21113.0)
Now, all of a sudden, its a great idea?
Quote from: southsider1015 on October 28, 2015, 09:48:18 PM
I brought up the idea about Google Fiber over a year ago, and got laughed at.
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php?topic=21113.0 (http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php?topic=21113.0)
Now, all of a sudden, its a great idea?
Southsider,
no laughs here, I think I was pretty clear what Google needs.
But some things have changed in the city since your post, things that didnt exist before.
That, and the fact that the folks who are eternally dissatisfied with Jacksonville are most often dismissive (and reflexively so) of Jax possibilities. There's no real inferiority complex in Jax; that complex is primarily with a select crowd that wants the city to apologize for being very Southern, very Florida and not something entirely inappropriate for our climate & tastes. But there are fewer and fewer of these folks every day.
Goodness of the heart? What? spuwho, Google has a business to run. And that business has provided incredible benefits to us. Of course they're in it for themselves, too.
Me? I'm hopeful our ahead-of-the-curve Jaguars owner, 4th richest in the NFL, does something creative and unique with them with his new combination indoor practice facility complex & entertainment venue that they're clearly envisioning jump-starting the Shipyards development.
Rattler,
I have heard/seen similar pleas for Google Fiber in other cities. Most of them void of economic thought, more about civic pride.
That is what drives the "goodness" remark.
As exciting as this is, what timeframe can we really expect before we see widespread implementation in Duval? 5yrs or 10?
My sister lives in KC suburb of Lee's Summit, and they just got it this month in their area. When did Google fiber start the build out in KC?
Quote from: Gators312 on October 29, 2015, 08:28:52 AM
As exciting as this is, what can we expect before we see widespread implementation in Duval? 5yrs or 10?
My sister lives in KC suburb of Lee's Summit, and they just got it this month in their area. When did Google fiber start the build out in KC?
The first customers in KC got service at the beginning of the year.
Rollout to the burbs is slow, so yeah, it's gonna be a long time before its widespread here given our density. And that's after all of the red tape is handled and service begins.
IKEA effect?? lol
Quote from: Dapperdan on October 29, 2015, 11:16:03 AM
IKEA effect?? lol
BINGO! We're getting the Summer Olympics next.
And this is great news. People are really excited about gigabit internet speeds. They will have to do some some serious router/hardwire upgrades at home if they want to fully appreciate this when if (when) it gets rolled out here in Jax.
Comcast with their 100mbps download speeds were already bottle necking on my wireless g/n router & ethernet over powerline adaptors, I had to upgrade those just to get the full download speeds in my house.
(http://marcelbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/firerouter-300x273.jpg)
http://marcelbrown.com/2014/10/07/high-speed-internet-can-router-keep-anymore/
It will be interesting to see which neighborhoods they initially target.
Sure it's way too early to gloat, but I'm already loving the St. Johns County folks whinging about the possibility of not being included.
^ Clay County is already doing the same, well at least one co-worker of mine from Clay. I showed her the Orange Park thread on here as an explanation.
Google Fiber had a major outage in Kansas City earlier this week. The outage started right at the beginning of the first game of the World Series. Many missed the opening home run as the outage lasted an hour.
But then they credited everyone two days, regardless if they were really trying to watch it (who watched baseball in TV anyway).
With Comcast, you have to call, complain, whine, and threaten to leave if you lose service and want a credit.
Did anyone compare the costs? Construction costs, per user are $300 and the service when installed in KC runs between 70 and 130. That is not too far off from where Xfinity is now, and with Xfinity, you can use their service all over town for downloading on smartphones. It will help us with internet bandwidth, for sure, but not sure this is a great savings, just yet.
Quote from: spuwho on October 29, 2015, 07:55:04 AM
Rattler,
I have heard/seen similar pleas for Google Fiber in other cities. Most of them void of economic thought, more about civic pride.
That is what drives the "goodness" remark.
Got it.
Quote from: mtraininjax on October 30, 2015, 01:15:38 AM
Did anyone compare the costs? Construction costs, per user are $300 and the service when installed in KC runs between 70 and 130. That is not too far off from where Xfinity is now, and with Xfinity, you can use their service all over town for downloading on smartphones. It will help us with internet bandwidth, for sure, but not sure this is a great savings, just yet.
The $300 construction costs are only if you choose their free Internet package. Plus it's payed in installments. 5Mbps is still fast enough to stream 1080p HD from Netflix/Youtube.
https://fiber.google.com/cities/kansascity/plans/
Quote from: Josh on October 30, 2015, 08:44:09 AM
Quote from: mtraininjax on October 30, 2015, 01:15:38 AM
Did anyone compare the costs? Construction costs, per user are $300 and the service when installed in KC runs between 70 and 130. That is not too far off from where Xfinity is now, and with Xfinity, you can use their service all over town for downloading on smartphones. It will help us with internet bandwidth, for sure, but not sure this is a great savings, just yet.
The $300 construction costs are only if you choose their free Internet package. Plus it's payed in installments. 5Mbps is still fast enough to stream 1080p HD from Netflix/Youtube.
https://fiber.google.com/cities/kansascity/plans/
I just tested 1080p on my Comcast Blast! service. (up to 75Mbps) No issues on bandwidth, peak 5Mbps, but settled into 3Mbps. But the streamer appliance (Roku3), while it said it supported it, kept blanking out periodically. I set it back to 720p and it stopped.
So while 1Gbps internet sounds great, it will take a lot of simultaneous activities to enjoy it. Anyone who surfs torrents will love it to death.
Quote from: spuwho on October 30, 2015, 10:25:55 PM
I just tested 1080p on my Comcast Blast! service. (up to 75Mbps) No issues on bandwidth, peak 5Mbps, but settled into 3Mbps. But the streamer appliance (Roku3), while it said it supported it, kept blanking out periodically. I set it back to 720p and it stopped.
So while 1Gbps internet sounds great, it will take a lot of simultaneous activities to enjoy it. Anyone who surfs torrents will love it to death.
I'm surprised you had issues with 1080p...I stream 4k flawlessly on a 50mbps connection. That's about 4x the resolution of 1080p. My guess is your roku is on wifi. It's probably a bandwidth issue but not with your internet connection. Streaming 1080+ over wireless can be iffy unless none of your neighbors have wifi... Congestion in the wifi spectrum is a real problem now. If you can hardwire it my guess is you'll never have issues.
Quote from: blfair on October 31, 2015, 04:07:16 PM
Quote from: spuwho on October 30, 2015, 10:25:55 PM
I just tested 1080p on my Comcast Blast! service. (up to 75Mbps) No issues on bandwidth, peak 5Mbps, but settled into 3Mbps. But the streamer appliance (Roku3), while it said it supported it, kept blanking out periodically. I set it back to 720p and it stopped.
So while 1Gbps internet sounds great, it will take a lot of simultaneous activities to enjoy it. Anyone who surfs torrents will love it to death.
I'm surprised you had issues with 1080p...I stream 4k flawlessly on a 50mbps connection. That's about 4x the resolution of 1080p. My guess is your roku is on wifi. It's probably a bandwidth issue but not with your internet connection. Streaming 1080+ over wireless can be iffy unless none of your neighbors have wifi... Congestion in the wifi spectrum is a real problem now. If you can hardwire it my guess is you'll never have issues.
Your assessment is accurate.
The Roku is on a non-overlapping frequency in the A band paired with a AC router. 1080p was too much for that A band. I checked for interference as well. (None)
I have a ethernet over power link that I havent tested yet, so in the meantime I will keep it at 720p.
The "blanking out" was clearly the buffer in the Roku running out.
If that doesnt work I will have to have a ethernet cable pulled down the the entertainment center. The ethernet over power maxes out at around 68Mbps, so that should cut it.
Run new cat 6 to all your media devices, tried for years to get wireless to work reliably and at the end of the day there's just too many possible things to go wrong with it, I threw in the towel and ran wire. Haven't had a problem since.
We had similar issues on our home wireless network , but since we've gone with a new netgear router with th newer ac wireless protocol, it's resolved most of our connection issues. The 2.4ghz range was getting very very crowded on my block.
Ethernet over power has been gaining some traction in recent years and it's working out well for me in my garage where the wireless signal is weaker, but since Comcast up'd their download speed to 100 Mbps, it's only pulling 50-55Mbps, the 5ghz/ac wireless network gives me all of it (when i'm within range that is)
Nothing beats running cat6 cable like Chris said. I just haven't got around to hard-wiring the house yet.
Unbelievably excited for this. So tired of Comcast prices! Fiber allows 30/mb down for FREE. That's faster internet than what I'm paying 70 for at Comcast.
Quote from: Chris_B on November 02, 2015, 03:29:28 PM
Unbelievably excited for this. So tired of Comcast prices! Fiber allows 30/mb down for FREE. That's faster internet than what I'm paying 70 for at Comcast.
Google Fiber is not free. I am not sure where you get that information.
Even if your bill with Google was zero, it still isnt free.
The biz case for Google Fiber is ads, and ads need to know behavior. Behavioral knowledge allows targeting.
Its the "we will give you something for less, but only if you let us know everything about you"
Some people are ok with it, some arent. But lets be clear that it isnt free.
This is not the same as free like broadcast TV. Nielson still has to use statistics to interpolate eyeballs.
With Google Fiber, they will know exactly, therefore those ads are worth more.
You're naive if you think Google already doesn't know everything about you already.
No way to live a decent quality life and not be in the grid.
It looks like AT&T has finally made good on their 'Fiber to the press' promise of bringing GigaPower to Jacksonville.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/att-gigapower-available-in-jacksonville/36210432
$110/month for 1000Mbps. No mention of data caps or specific availability however.
Quote from: Josh on November 04, 2015, 10:58:19 AM
It looks like AT&T has finally made good on their 'Fiber to the press' promise of bringing GigaPower to Jacksonville.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/att-gigapower-available-in-jacksonville/36210432
$110/month for 1000Mbps. No mention of data caps or specific availability however.
I will call them to see if I can order it.
I have asked around for months to see if it actually is installed anywhere.so far, nada.
Competition. In Jax. From profit-earning enterprises. That's a damn good thing.
Lol hilarious, so for years we get the choice of paying att or Comcast $100/mo for crap service, then Google shows up and att immediately launches a competing product with gigabit speeds for the same price we've been paying for slow crap for a decade.
Whoever thinks market competition doesn't work, look at this.
Quote from: spuwho on November 04, 2015, 12:26:24 PM
Quote from: Josh on November 04, 2015, 10:58:19 AM
It looks like AT&T has finally made good on their 'Fiber to the press' promise of bringing GigaPower to Jacksonville.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/att-gigapower-available-in-jacksonville/36210432
$110/month for 1000Mbps. No mention of data caps or specific availability however.
I will call them to see if I can order it.
I have asked around for months to see if it actually is installed anywhere.so far, nada.
As I expected. Not available at my address.
Which is laughable as I have an ATT fiber access node in my front yard. Because they were lazy they set the fiber up as copper bundle emulation, not with IP.
So they can run vDSL under the Uverse banner technically, but they dont even offer that. (Again, just too lazy) Just plain vanilla DSL through an analog/digital interface card that goes into the node.
So call me skeptical on ATT.
Anyone is welcome to PM me if they have an install date or know someone who gets an actual install date from ATT for this service.
Quote from: spuwho on November 05, 2015, 03:56:31 PM
Quote from: spuwho on November 04, 2015, 12:26:24 PM
Quote from: Josh on November 04, 2015, 10:58:19 AM
It looks like AT&T has finally made good on their 'Fiber to the press' promise of bringing GigaPower to Jacksonville.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/att-gigapower-available-in-jacksonville/36210432
$110/month for 1000Mbps. No mention of data caps or specific availability however.
I will call them to see if I can order it.
I have asked around for months to see if it actually is installed anywhere.so far, nada.
As I expected. Not available at my address.
Which is laughable as I have an ATT fiber access node in my front yard. Because they were lazy they set the fiber up as copper bundle emulation, not with IP.
So they can run vDSL under the Uverse banner technically, but they dont even offer that. (Again, just too lazy) Just plain vanilla DSL through an analog/digital interface card that goes into the node.
So call me skeptical on ATT.
Anyone is welcome to PM me if they have an install date or know someone who gets an actual install date from ATT for this service.
You called and they said not available at your address? I just figured that the online address lookup tool hasn't been updated yet. Realistically, I don't think they have any real delivery to customers at the moment; they just got caught with their pants down after Google's announcement, and are now scrambling to get the service rolled out in the smallest way possible, just to be able to say the service is now available here. I too have a bunch of AT&T stuff in my ROW, and judging from the number of "2WIRE" default named APs in the area, we're probably the most concentrated Uverse area I've come across.
But getting 100Mbps from Comcast for half the price is good enough for me. I haven't seen AT&T mention anything about data caps yet either.
This is a well-known phenomenon in cities google fiber deploys to. The telecoms drop prices and data caps. Glad to see them finally have an "oh sh!t" moment around here. I've been tired of $100/mo for marginal internet forever, an open market was the only thing that would ever change it.
And now news that Google Fiber goes Dark in Jacksonville....
http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2016/08/18/jacksonville-project-questioned-amidst-reports.html?ana=fbk (http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2016/08/18/jacksonville-project-questioned-amidst-reports.html?ana=fbk)
This isn't anything particular to Jacksonville. Google was recently getting ready to break ground in San Jose, and at the last minute delayed the project indefinitely because they are reportedly considering going aerial/wireless instead.
Quote from: Josh on August 18, 2016, 10:15:28 AM
This isn't anything particular to Jacksonville. Google was recently getting ready to break ground in San Jose, and at the last minute delayed the project indefinitely because they are reportedly considering going aerial/wireless instead.
Thanks Josh,
I read the same thing yesterday.
Google is finding that the fiber effort is costing more than they forecasted, hence the look at wireless spectrum.(see next remark)
The Jacksonville issue was over a contract requirement that would permit a Google non-union field tech to relocate an AT&T pole hookup without an AT&T field tech being present. AT&T is demanding Google pay for a CWA based field tech from AT&T to perform the work.
Now the irony is that AT&T just installed GigaPower in our neighborhood. Who installed it? A non-union contractor sourced by AT&T! But it hasnt been lit yet, which is interesting.
The FCC has been making a great deal of effort to open up more spectrum for data use. They just started kicking off the users of wireless microphones in the 600Mhz upper band so they can reallocate it in 7 years.
Verizon is pushing a form of LTE that utilizes the 2.4Mhz band allocated for WiFi. Which is a total crock because Verizon is the 2nd largest spectrum squatter in the world, behind AT&T.
Google sees this lack of movement by ATT and Verizon in FTTH, and they see them squatting enourmous amounts of spectrum in wireless. This ultimately is a threat to their biz model.
If Google tries to purchase large spectrum, then Project Fi will probably die as the carriers will see them as a threat in their wireless space.
So for a new entrant into data, its getting harder and harder as ATT throws up expensive co-location requirements to be on the poles, and they hog all the spectrum that could be used to bypass the poles.
And in areas where broadband isnt profitable, Verizon has been dumping whole service regions to Fairpoint or Frontier using Reverse Morris Trust methods which forces old debt to go with the region.
Its an interesting world broadband has become. But if you want to find blame in why there is little choice, blame AT&T and Verizon. While they love talking competition, they dont act like it.
Clearly the consumer is not the winner in all of this, whether braodband or cellular. We have slow service compared to other nations, and with celluar, there are vast areas of poor or no coverage (yet the phone companies want to abandon land lines without guaranteeing cell coverage) Too much controlled by too few companies, with little competition.
Further confirmation that Google is basically done with expanding Google Fiber.
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/10/google-fiber-laying-off-9-of-staff-will-pause-plans-for-10-cities/