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The discussions with the towns they are launching in started many months ago. As early as Feburary of 2014 towns were already submitting materials to Google. There has been considerable "prep work" done by these cities to show that they were going to be able to work with Google to handle installation of fiber efficiently. Google has a strong preference for cities that commit to allowing things like permitting and tree disturbance to be "fast tracked" for them.
Call me a cynic, but I think this is just some sly social engineering on their part. lol
Location: Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, and Raleigh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PKCorey
Most of Cascade is not in the city of Atlanta limits so its not suprising, they might be left out this round.
That is sorta true. Actually, these days about 60% of the Cascade area is within the Atlanta city limits. Most of the last few annexations into the city since the hold placed by the city during the recession on that very area. I actually lived in that one of the few unincorporated areas of Cascade left prior to my last move.
Hold on there cowboys (and cowgirls), this ain't over yet. It seems more hype than fact. Do you have any idea of what it costs to lay fiber all over the place, let alone Atlanta? My guess is that they are going to build small rings to serve small areas and connect them over leased fiber back to 56 Marietta or wherever (QTS, etc).
A good "buildout" of fiber for the "metro" Atlanta area (covering the major 7 counties, to SOME extent) can run well in excess of 20-30 million...and that does NOT include the laterals into neighborhoods to folks that want to pay nothing and expect everything.
The math just does not work. The thought of them tossing NEW fiber in and around every neighborhood is laughable when you consider the 8 cities alone will run well in excess of 300-500 million for starters.
Why?
Lest we forget all the CPE necessary to run it (pick one, Cisco, Juniper, etc..etc...), outside plant, all the cities with their "franchise fees" (Finally, they can drill another carrier that can pay the bill), right of way issues, ongoing operation support (remember when ACSI's fiber was cut on Piedmont???), taxes, USF, etc....everyone is going to want a piece of them.....and they'll get it if they want to operate here.
Translated into English it means, you'll pay for it.
If you look at our sprawl, outlying areas will be way, way down on the list to be built if ever at all. Anything North of the River has it's own unique challenges but, again, they could probably lease fiber from the myriad of carriers that use AGL's old asset (TW, Zayo, Fiberlight, Sunesys, Level 3, Comcast, FPL, etc...etc...etc....something like 14 carriers). From there, augment and go to the best revenue producers (sorry Henry County, hello North Fulton) and as you can see, they started close to ground zero for that very reason.
Cost.
Comcast, Charter and perhaps some wireless opportunities aren't going anywhere anytime soon. 5 down and 1 up is anything but a "dream". As it turns out, good or bad, outside of the ILEC (AT&T) Comcast has more fiber running around the area than anyone (21 counties). After that, it's a free-for-all.
And then, consider the residential dollar. To put fiber into a home, only to have that person leave and perhaps not see revenue from that address for a long time (remember, not EVERYONE will buy it no matter what) is a real, real money suck.
Putting it into high-rises and tall shiny buildings (TSB's) is THE reason you see every knucklehead in Telecom banging on your doors if your business resides there. Tall shiny Condo's and other high-density dwellings have a shot. Some neighborhood with "comfortable shoes" is not that desirable for the reason mentioned above. 3-5K to pull it to include the CPE, what, $30 a month??? Not-so-much....
So, if you find yourself in the bluffs or out in Douglasville rolling a fat spliff, don't expect it anytime soon. The cost for Google to install and maintain a fiber network in ANY metro, especially a super sprawled out one like this is horrendous. Toss in our favorite time value of money and even the super brains at Google might end up bent over on this deal for awhile. Look for neighborhoods with TSB's (mixed use, high-rise apartments or high-rise businesses) and the closer you are to them, the better your odds.
The install is by the foot. And it ain't cheap. Even for Google (200K a mile in downtown alone). They should probably go into banking. Now THAT is an area that could be improved. Truly become Google Bank. Ubiquitous and available to anyone, almost overnight. Buy a big one or two and put them out of their misery. That's something that might help.
No matter who you are, no matter how smart you are, building infrastructure like this is a real MF. Between the bureaucrats and the simple cost it will make your hair turn gray. And for the effort you have customers who vote solely on their wallets (THE reason everyone buys Comcast no matter how crappy their customer care is) like they buy all commodities. As soon as they have it, they will be shopping for the next ***** who can offer it.....for less.....we call that.....wireless.
Not raining on the parade. I'd like to see anyone make a go of it in that business but, it is, what it is. Let's see what the REAL fiber deployment plans look like and see how long it really takes them to get there. THEN you will be able to gauge how successful they will be at it across the country (not). The days of buying super depressed assets is over. Perhaps if they could buy AT&T (won't) and Verizon, and Level 3, and Windstream, and about 250 ILECs, and dump another 100-200 billion into it then yeah, they could cover the US fairly well. Sure.
Let's just hope they get the billing right. We all know what fun that has been through the decades. Audit THIS! This entire effort will truly show you just how mortal Google truly is. Should be a hoot reading the news feeds how you-pick-the-SVP-of-special-projects is moved in and out during this time....."John Blunderbuss has gone on to pursue other opportunities, we will miss him (not)"....."Google announced today it's realigning its fiber division" (<----read by some marketing grad from Vassar....kind of like being the White House Press Secretary...that last one that got drilled this bad worked for Bernie Ebbers)
Until THAT day...don't hold your breath. This is similar to that lady in Florida that thought Obama was going to get her a new fridge. Please.
Last edited by Caleb Longstreet; 01-28-2015 at 12:58 PM..
Hold on there cowboys (and cowgirls), this ain't over yet. It seems more hype than fact. Do you have any idea of what it costs to lay fiber all over the place, let alone Atlanta? My guess is that they are going to build small rings to serve small areas and connect them over leased fiber back to 56 Marietta or wherever (QTS, etc).
A good "buildout" of fiber for the "metro" Atlanta area (covering the major 7 counties, to SOME extent) can run well in excess of 20-30 million...and that does NOT include the laterals into neighborhoods to folks that want to pay nothing and expect everything.
The math just does not work. The thought of them tossing NEW fiber in and around every neighborhood is laughable when you consider the 8 cities alone will run well in excess of 300-500 million for starters.
Why?
Lest we forget all the CPE necessary to run it (pick one, Cisco, Juniper, etc..etc...), outside plant, all the cities with their "franchise fees" (Finally, they can drill another carrier that can pay the bill), right of way issues, ongoing operation support (remember when ACSI's fiber was cut on Piedmont???), taxes, USF, etc....everyone is going to want a piece of them.....and they'll get it if they want to operate here.
Translated into English it means, you'll pay for it.
If you look at our sprawl, outlying areas will be way, way down on the list to be built if ever at all. Anything North of the River has it's own unique challenges but, again, they could probably lease fiber from the myriad of carriers that use AGL's old asset (TW, Zayo, Fiberlight, Sunesys, Level 3, Comcast, FPL, etc...etc...etc....something like 14 carriers). From there, augment and go to the best revenue producers (sorry Henry County, hello North Fulton) and as you can see, they started close to ground zero for that very reason.
Cost.
Comcast, Charter and perhaps some wireless opportunities aren't going anywhere anytime soon. 5 down and 1 up is anything but a "dream". As it turns out, good or bad, outside of the ILEC (AT&T) Comcast has more fiber running around the area than anyone (21 counties). After that, it's a free-for-all.
And then, consider the residential dollar. To put fiber into a home, only to have that person leave and perhaps not see revenue from that address for a long time (remember, not EVERYONE will buy it no matter what) is a real, real money suck.
Putting it into high-rises and tall shiny buildings (TSB's) is THE reason you see every knucklehead in Telecom banging on your doors if your business resides there. Tall shiny Condo's and other high-density dwellings have a shot. Some neighborhood with "comfortable shoes" is not that desirable for the reason mentioned above. 3-5K to pull it to include the CPE, what, $30 a month??? Not-so-much....
So, if you find yourself in the bluffs or out in Douglasville rolling a fat spliff, don't expect it anytime soon. The cost for Google to install and maintain a fiber network in ANY metro, especially a super sprawled out one like this is horrendous. Toss in our favorite time value of money and even the super brains at Google might end up bent over on this deal for awhile. Look for neighborhoods with TSB's (mixed use, high-rise apartments or high-rise businesses) and the closer you are to them, the better your odds.
The install is by the foot. And it ain't cheap. Even for Google (200K a mile in downtown alone). They should probably go into banking. Now THAT is an area that could be improved. Truly become Google Bank. Ubiquitous and available to anyone, almost overnight. Buy a big one or two and put them out of their misery. That's something that might help.
No matter who you are, no matter how smart you are, building infrastructure like this is a real MF. Between the bureaucrats and the simple cost it will make your hair turn gray. And for the effort you have customers who vote solely on their wallets (THE reason everyone buys Comcast no matter how crappy their customer care is) like they buy all commodities. As soon as they have it, they will be shopping for the next ***** who can offer it.....for less.....we call that.....wireless.
Not raining on the parade. I'd like to see anyone make a go of it in that business but, it is, what it is. Let's see what the REAL fiber deployment plans look like and see how long it really takes them to get there. THEN you will be able to gauge how successful they will be at it across the country (not). The days of buying super depressed assets is over. Perhaps if they could buy AT&T (won't) and Verizon, and Level 3, and Windstream, and about 250 ILECs, and dump another 100-200 billion into it then yeah, they could cover the US fairly well. Sure.
Let's just hope they get the billing right. We all know what fun that has been through the decades. Audit THIS!
Until THAT day...don't hold your breath. This is similar to that lady in Florida that thought Obama was going to get her a new fridge. Please.
lol...you do realize you are talking about google right? I'm sure their bank account can handle it. I am also quite sure, with 3 other cities under their belt, they are aware of the costs and the "sprawl" and the undertaking. There is a reason they are working within City limits, and there's a reason they asked for Electric Utility Schematics already.
It's probably not going to happen by next month, but it's not like they aren't fully aware of what they are getting into, how much it will cost, and the pitfalls of doing so. They've been running those numbers for the past year.
Caleb Longstreet, you do realize that Google Fiber has already been successful at providing service in other US cities, right?
They will not get to every corner of the metro. Especially not right away. And they have only promised select cities. But it is not a question of "if" but "when" for those areas of the metros that it has been announced for.
lol...you do realize you are talking about google right? I'm sure their bank account can handle it. I am also quite sure, with 3 other cities under their belt, they are aware of the costs and the "sprawl" and the undertaking. There is a reason they are working within City limits, and there's a reason they asked for Electric Utility Schematics already.
It's probably not going to happen by next month, but it's not like they aren't fully aware of what they are getting into, how much it will cost, and the pitfalls of doing so. They've been running those numbers for the past year.
lol typed all that as if Google is blindly picking cities, and doesn't already have cities under its belt where it as started working. Atlanta isn't that big, and CoA residents can careless if places like Norcross or Alpharetta get Google Fiber.
Normally on any good day I'd hate on Google for not being very protective of privacy information...but geez louise, what is with the hate on Google for potentially providing low-cost internet service?
Having more competition with the internet cartel that's present here should be a great thing, right?
And yet, people are so over-the-top right now with the constant worrying about what could go wrong...or what is wrong...or for some reason just angry in general about Atlanta and Google. And posting these crazy long diatribes at that.
Am I missing something here?
Come on now, get a grip! Be happy for Atlanta getting some more internet competition.
Caleb Longstreet, you do realize that Google Fiber has already been successful at providing service in other US cities, right?
They will not get to every corner of the metro. Especially not right away. And they have only promised select cities. But it is not a question of "if" but "when".
You do know that lots of other companies have done this for years, right? You do know that a LARGE number of them imploded during the dot-bomb days, right? You do know that they have pulled back somewhat from their ORIGINAL forecast a year ago, right?
My point is NOT to slam Google but, to set some expectations of what I read on the first 8 pages of this thread. Each and every city has it's own "unique" challenges. Asking for the Electric Utility schematics is simply Outside Plant planning...nothing special because it's Google.
Take Florida for example. Ever try to simply cross a canal? Even one that is only 8 feet across? The folks from the South Florida Water Management District might want to have a chat with you...ever bore under a Railroad? Don't know if you know this but, those folks don't give a flying F who you are and permits to make one bore can be as long as 6 months...same for water....then swing on over to New Orleans where those wonderful folks will want a 10% franchise fee and 30-50% of the workers coming from the local pool. Not sure if you know who those folks are but, let's just say they have a unique work ethic.
Let's just see this roll out. I know they have the money. The question is. Is this REALLY the best use of it? Probably why they scaled it back, huh?
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The cost
