Google Fiber is considering Dallas as an expansion city for its 1-Gig broadband and pay TV services, possibly setting the stage for more competition there with Charter Communications, Grande Communications and AT&T.
Google Fiber, which offers service in parts of Austin and has a buildout underway in San Antonio, has not made a firm commitment to deploy in Big D, but said it’s begun a joint planning process with the city, similar to the process it started last year with Chicago and Los Angeles.
“Bringing Google Fiber to Dallas would be a huge undertaking, so we want to make sure we’re prepared," Jill Szuchmacher, Google Fiber’s director of expansion, noted in this blog post. “Google Fiber Working alongside Mayor Mike Rawlings and local leaders, we’ll use our Fiber checklist to learn more about local topography, existing infrastructure, and other factors that may impact construction. Building a fiber optic network through a dense and complex urban environment like Dallas is challenging—these discussions will help us deploy our network efficiently and responsibly.”
In Dallas, Google will face off with Charter (via its acquisition of Time Warner Cable, which started its all-digital “Maxx” upgrades there back in 2015, and AT&T, which launched its fiber-based GigaPower service to parts of Dallas/Ft. Worth in 2014; and Grande Communications, which has also been pushing 1-Gig into several of its markets.
Google Fiber has also launched service in Nashville, Tenn.; Atlanta; Kansas City; and Provo, Utah; and has committed to deploy in Salt Lake City; San Antonio; and Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
In addition to Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas, Google Fiber is also mulling expansions in Portland, Ore.; San Jose, Irvine and San Diego, Calif.; Phoenix; Oklahoma City; Louisville, Ky.; and Jacksonville and Tampa, Fla.
