Earlier this year, Google announced that it was looking at expanding its Fiber service to new markets and that it was looking at 34 new cities in 9 metropolitan areas, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh-Durham, San Antonio, Salt Lake City, and San Jose. It’s been nearly three months since the announcement and news on the possible expansion has been virtually non-existent, which is why Google’s update on Thursday was notable. According to the Google Fiber Blog, the cities have been busy working through a checklist to prepare for Google Fiber, and “for the most part,” they’re nearly finished.
Although the checklists are mostly completed, Google says that there is still plenty of work to be done and loose ends to tie up. As for items left unchecked, Google is still waiting for approval from several city councils in regards to its “fiber huts” which would house thousands of glass fibers to coordinate the network. The fiber team also assumes that it will have follow-up questions relating to the infrastructure maps and other information the cities have provided.
Beyond the checklist, Google needs “to get something called a video franchise agreement, which would basically grant [the company] permission to build a local network.” Google might also need to rent space on poles from local utility companies in order to string fiber without the need for additional, disruptive construction.
All in all, the process seems to be chugging right along, and Google still plans to “announce which cities will get Google Fiber by the end of the year.”
