Google Fiber said it is exploring expansions in three more cities – Irvine and San Diego, Calif., and Louisville, Ky. – that could set up more broadband and TV competition for incumbent service providers such as Cox Communications, AT&T, and Time Warner Cable.
“Our next step is to begin a joint planning process with city leaders, just as we did when we began working with nine metro areas last year,” Jill Szuchmacher, director, Google Fiber expansion, explained in this blog post.
“To kick things off, we’ll work with Irvine, Louisville and San Diego to conduct a detailed study of factors that affect construction, such as local topography, housing density, and the condition of existing infrastructure. Meanwhile, cities will complete a checklist of items—such as providing a map of utility lines—that will prepare them for a large-scale fiber build.”
Following that process, Google Fiber, which today offers a mix of 1-Gig broadband and pay TV services, will determine if it will move forward and build networks in those cities.
On the cable end, TWC is the incumbent in Louisville, and Cox and TWC are the providers in the San Diego and Irvine areas.
Google has initiated a similar exploration in Phoenix, Portland, and San Jose, but has not announced buildout commitments there.
Google Fiberrecently committed to launch service in San Antonio, Texas, building on deployments in Kansas City; Provo, Utah; and Austin, Texas, and buildouts underway in Salt Lake City; Nashville, Tenn.; Atlanta; Charlotte; and Raleigh-Durham.
