Google Fiber for Communities FAQ
Fiber_for_Pasadena
know what the expected funding requirements will be?
Google will fund the cost of building and deploying this network. It
is too early to announce a specific dollar amount, as countless
factors will play a role in determining an estimated cost. Right now
our focus is on finding the right communities.
• Do you expect financial incentives or commitment from the host
communities?
No, we are not asking for any special privileges or incentives.
• What is the projected start date of the project? What is the Google
budget for the project per city / per resident?
We plan to announce a target community or communities this year. It is
too soon to project a start date for construction, as that will depend
on local processes. It is also too early to announce a specific dollar
amount for budget, as countless factors will play a role in
determining an estimated cost. Right now our focus is on finding the
right communities.
• Are you targeting a specific size of community for this project?
We will connect at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people
in total, in one or more trial communities across the country. This
could include a number of smaller communities, or an area of a largely-
populated city.
• Is the scope of the pilot residential consumers only, or will you
allow the municipal government, other agencies, or local businesses to
sign up for service as well?
Service will not be limited strictly to residential consumers. We do
intend to offer service to small businesses, municipal government, and
others in the chosen communities.
• Will the trial be operated as a not-for-profit organization, or as a
commercial entity?
We intend to run our network as a commercial entity.
• Does Google want any particular mix of population (demographic)?
We are not looking for a particular mix of population.
• What metrics do you plan to use to evaluate the trial? How would you
call the experiment a success?
If more people are able to obtain high-speed broadband access at a
reasonable price as a result of our project, then we will have
achieved our goal.
• If a city is chosen and conditions are met would a free Wi-Fi
service also be available to all or parts of the city?
We intend to offer this service as a competitively-priced, fiber-to-
the-home offering, not a wireless offering, but we are not ruling
anything out.
• What is the expected lifecycle (duration) of the trial? What happens
at the close of the trial? Will the infrastructure be transferred to
another vendor or continue to be operated by Google? For a certain
time or indefinitely?
We have no current plans to cease operation of our experimental
network.
• Do you anticipate any long-term (post construction) support from the
cities involved for the network, i.e. once it's in, is Google going to
manage/maintain it without further help from the municipality?
It is too early to answer specifics as to post-construction
maintenance of the network.
• What if we have broadband, even Fiber providers in our community,
will Google be building a new one? Would Google be willing to work
with existing vendors/ISPs to improve and expand the current service
offering?
We intend to build our own fiber infrastructure, but have not ruled
anything out. Other considerations will depend on a variety of local
factors.
• Will Google want to leverage building out the network by utilizing
other fiber optic infrastructure already in place (either private or
publicly owned), or is Google planning to do all network/
infrastructure buildout?
We intend to build our own infrastructure, but we have not ruled
anything out.
• You mention that: “We will also take into account broadband
availability and speeds that are already offered to users within a
community.” How will it hurt us in this effort if we have broadband,
even though it is much slower than you propose?
We are considering a range of different scenarios that might be
suitable for our deployment, and, to do that, we want to understand -
what is the current state of broadband in your community. It will not
necessarily hurt you if your community is already served by broadband
providers.
• Should my city reply to the RFI? What criteria will Google use in
evaluating responses?
Above all, we're interested in deploying our network efficiently and
quickly, and are hoping to identify interested community partners that
will work with us to achieve this goal. You can learn more about the
specific criteria we're considering by visiting the FAQ page of the
RFI website: http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/faq
• Our town will make a government response. There are also community
groups eager to respond. Should they respond separately, or should all
responses be integrated into one?
Community groups should respond separately, via the RFI designated for
community groups.
• Would Google consider facilitating collaboration among nearby
proposals?
We will not rule out facilitating collaboration among nearby
proposals. Above all, we're interested in deploying our network
efficiently and quickly, and are hoping to identify interested
community partners that will work with us to achieve this goal. If we
were required to obtain several different regulatory approvals across
several different review boards, it may limit our ability to build
quickly.
• Would it be possible for Google to setup a WEBCAST and invite the
interested parties for the Q&A session(s)? This would go along way to
address everyone's question quickly and facilitate the preparation of
the responses?
We will investigate the possibility of hosting such an event.