Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Another reason to love Google Fiber: Fast, free public WiFi

Published Apr 25th, 2014 12:35PM EDT
Google Fiber WiFi

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

People love Google Fiber. The lightning-fast yet shockingly affordable Google broadband service covers a small fraction of 1% of American households, but consumers across the nation are clamoring for it. For those somehow still unaware, Google Fiber offers completely free 5Mbps broadband service to households in the two U.S. cities in which it is offered, or 1Gbps service for just $70 per month. To get an idea of how great that package is, I pay $60 per month for 30/5Mbps service (30Mbps download, 5Mbps upload) from Time Warner Cable.

Now, it looks like people will soon have yet another reason to love Google Fiber: Free public WiFi.

Documents obtained by IDG News Service suggest that Google is indeed considering deploying public WiFi networks in the cities covered by Google Fiber. The documents discussing the plans were reportedly sent to regulators in each of the 34 cities Google is currently considering as future Fiber markets.

Specific plans were not disclosed, but Google says it will be “discussing our Wi-Fi plans and related requirements with your city as we move forward with your city during this planning process.”

Beyond simply having access to fast, free WiFi in cities that might eventually be covered by Google Fiber, here’s another reason to get excited: Google’s WiFi plans might be part of a larger scheme to finally give U.S. wireless carriers something to fear.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.