Google Fiber's 1Gbps network begins signing up customers in Raleigh, NC

While Google Fiber may have put the breaks on its more ambitious expansion plans, the 1Gbps internet and TV service continues to sign up new customers in the locations where it is already under construction. Today, it announced it has begun taking signups in parts of Raleigh, NC.

Specifically, residents and businesses who live and work in the North Hills midtown area of Raleigh are now eligible to sign up for Google Fiber. They will join the residents in the nearby town of Morrisville, where Google Fiber went live in late 2016. The home service offers 100Mbps speeds for $50 a month or 1Gbps speeds for $70 a month. Adding TV services will cost $140 a month for 100Mbps speeds and $160 a month for 1Gbps speeds (not counting premium channels). Google Fiber plans to add more residents to the Research Triangle metro area of North Carolina, which also includes the cities of Durham and Chapel Hill, in the near future.

In October, Google announced that it would “pause our operations and offices” in all of the cities that were considered for the Fiber service that were not already online or under construction. Besides the Triangle metro area of NC, it is currently available in Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah, Kansas City, Austin, Texas, Atlanta, and Charlotte, NC. It is coming in the near future to Nashville, Orange County, California, San Antonio, Texas and Huntsville, Alabama.

Google Fiber also acquired Webpass in 2016. It offers high-speed Internet services, with speeds up to 1Gbps, in several more cities, including Chicago, Boston, Miami, San Francisco, Oakland and San Diego. It does not currently offer TV services. Webpass is also developing a high-speed wireless internet service that could be used by Google Fiber in the future.

Do you think Google should continue supporting Google Fiber or is this side-business a waste of time and money? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!