Google is to set up their Google Fiber network in Portland as part of its Fiber connectivity expansions targeted for 34 cities in the United States.
Earlier this week, the city of Portland approved the franchise agreement with Google that would bring the company closer to building their fiber network in the city. The search giant would invest at least $300 million for this project, Techcrunch reported.
On February, Google officially announced its plan of expanding its Fiber Optic network into 34 communities. Portland was one of the 34 cities that the company identified, along with areas in Nashville, Tenn., Atlanta, Charlotte, San Antonio, Salt Lake City, San Jose, Calif., Raleigh-Durham, Lake Oswego, Tigard, Gresham, Hillsboro, and Beaverton. These cities would work closely with the Google Fiber team to see if they could get their communities connected to Gigabit-speed Internet and TV services. Of all cities, Portland moves the fastest in terms of concretizing the project.
Under the Fiber franchise, Google would choose which neighborhoods they would bring the network based on their overall demand.
"We're going to work on a detailed study of local factors that could affect construction, like topography (e.g., hills, flood zones), housing density and the condition of local infrastructure. Meanwhile, cities will complete a checklist of items that will help them get ready for a project of this scale and speed," said Kevin Lo, Google Fiber general manager, to eWeek.com.
Although negotiations between Google and Portland seemed to be running smoothly, the company did not make any decision yet whether it would continue building the Fiber network in the area. But, Google assured everyone that it would announce its final decision regarding the Fiber network late this year.
Portland residents living in apartment buildings might not be able to avail the services of Google Fiber due to ISP technicalities. Most apartment buildings have an existing contract with another ISP. If they wanted to avail of the Fiber network, they would have to negotiate with Google or connect to Google's Wi-Fi since the company planned to make a city-wide Wi-Fi connectivity.
