CHICAGO — Google wants to bring "Fiber," its super-fast Internet service, to Chicago — a high-speed, high-tech offering that would compete directly with existing providers like Comcast.
The tech giant — which just opened a new office in the West Loop — announced Tuesday morning that it will "explore" bringing Google Fiber to Los Angeles and Chicago.
The two cities would be the largest to date eyed by Google, which previously launched the service it calls "faster than a Cheetah" in places like Provo, Utah and Kansas City.
"With the help of gigabit Internet, Chicago and L.A. can boost their creative cultures with Internet speed to match their size," Google wrote in a blog post announcing the move.
A Facebook post touting the service. [Facebook/Google]
Google said it is "inviting" city officials to allow the company to explore installing the Fiber service here, citing a long check list of stipulations like letting Google plant its underground Fiber cables and deciding where to place its "huts," or distribution centers linking the network and customer homes. Such work could require Google to purchase properties throughout the city.
"We’ll study the different factors that would affect construction — like city infrastructure and topography — and use that information to help us prepare to build a local fiber network," Google wrote.
In Austin, Texas, Fiber is free for basic Internet, but high-speed "Gigabit" Internet costs $70 per month. Gigabit Internet and television service costs $130 per month, but could be a welcome relief for Chicagoans whose frustrations with the cable companies' customer service are well documented on social media.
So far, Google Fiber has been credited for bringing down Internet and TV costs in the markets where it exists, but the service has been criticized for still not being affordable enough for the low-income neighborhoods that are most often deprived of Internet access.
In a statement, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said that the service would add to Chicago's status as a burgeoning tech hub.
"High speed broadband internet is a key ingredient for job growth today and part of the foundation for an even stronger economy tomorrow," Emanuel said. "Google Fiber would be the latest milestone in our work to make Chicago the most connected city in the nation. Chicago will soon be the largest city in North America to have a subway system with full 4G wireless coverage, cementing the city's status as a national hub for innovation."
Google Fiber hiccuped during this fall's World Series in Kansas City, prompting ill-received ridicule from its competitors.
Though the company warns that the service may never come, Google has already launched a page asking Chicagoans to enter their addresses to learn when Fiber may come to their neighborhood. Stay tuned for more updates.
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