Plans to offer broadband in 34 more cities
By Michael Liedtke, Technology Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --Google wants to offer ultra-fast Internet service in 34 more cities scattered across eight states in the company's boldest challenge to cable and telecommunications providers.
The ambitious expansion of "Google Fiber" announced Wednesday targets major U.S. cities including Atlanta; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; San Antonio and parts of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The service derives its name from the fiber-optic cables that Google installs to deliver online data instead of clunky copper lines. The sleeker technology allows Google Fiber customers to surf the Internet at a speed of one gigabit per second, up to 100 times faster than existing broadband services. Google Fiber boasts that its service can download an entire movie in less than two minutes.
The plans to move into so many other cities are the clearest sign yet that Google, already the Internet's most powerful Internet company, intends to become a bigger player in providing access to the Internet, too. Launched as an experimental project in 2010, Google Fiber so far is only available in Kansas City, Kan.; Kansas City, Mo. and Provo, Utah. It is coming to Austin, Texas later this year.
As it enters more markets, Google is hoping the competition will prod existing Internet service providers such as Comcast, Verizon Communications and AT&T Inc. to upgrade their networks so they can run at faster speeds. Google figures it would still benefit in that scenario if the improvements to rival networks spur more Web surfing.
But four of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia — are not on Google's list. Those are among the many U.S. markets where either Comcast Corp. or Time Warner Cable Inc. has emerged as a leading provider of high-speed Internet service. Comcast last week announced plans to buy Time Warner Cable for $45 billion in a deal already facing resistance from consumer rights groups worried that the combination will drive up prices for broadband and cable TV.
Prices for Google Fiber are comparable or below what most households already pay. For example, in the two Kansas City markets, Google Fiber charges about $70 per month for just high-speed Internet service. A package that bundles the Internet service with more than 100 high-definition television channels costs about $120 per month.
Google's ownership of some the Internet's most lucrative advertising networks and heavily trafficked services such its YouTube video site gives the company a powerful incentive to make it more affordable and enjoyable to spend time online. Google CEO Larry Page is hoping the company can make more money from ads and other services if faster connections and a proliferation of computing devices can make the Internet even more addictive than it already is for tens of millions of people.
"People do more of what they love on the Web when the speeds are fast and they walk away when things are slow," said Kevin Lo, general manager of Google Fiber.
Although Google believes it can make more money over the long run if Internet speeds are faster, its decision to build ultra-fast access networks has unnerved some investors who worry about how much money all the projects will cost. Lo declined to estimate how much Google would have to spend to wire all 34 cities on its wish list, but said the cost of fiber optic has been steadily declining.
Google Inc.'s blueprint for building more fiber-optic networks is tentative because the company still needs to work out logistics over issues such as construction and traffic with local government leaders.
An update on which cities will actually get Google Fiber is supposed to be provided later this year. It could then take another year or two before the service is available in the selected cities.
If Google realizes its goal, the company will provide high-speed Internet service in these additional cities: Phoenix; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Tempe, Ariz.; San Jose, Calif.; Santa Clara, Calif.; Sunnyvale, Calif.; its hometown of Mountain View, Calif.; Palo Alto, Calif.; Atlanta; Avondale Estates, Ga.; Brookhaven, Ga.; College Park, Ga.; Decatur, Ga.; East Point, Ga.; Hapeville, Ga.; Sandy Springs, Ga.; Smyrna, Ga.; Nashville, Tenn.; Charlotte, N.C.; Carrboro, Cary, N.C.; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Durham, N.C.; Garner, N.C.; Morrisville, N.C.; Raleigh, N.C.; Portland, Ore.; Beaverton, Ore.; Hillsboro, Ore.; Gresham, Ore.' Lake Oswego, Ore; Tigard, Ore.; San Antonio; and Salt Lake City.
Google can easily afford the investment. The company ended last year with $59 billion in cash. The company's stock dipped $8.54 to close Wednesday at $1,202.34.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More