Starting this week, residents in a significant chunk of Southeast Austin can sign up for the company's super-fast 1-gigabit Internet service.
The new areas, which encompass many neighborhoods along East Riverside Drive, Montopolis Drive and East Oltorf Street, among others, have varying signup deadlines that extend into early next year.
Each "fiberhood" must reach its signup goal – a certain number of homes committed to use the service – by the signup deadline.
The new areas were selected because they are adjacent to areas in South Austin that Google is already serving or will soon begin serving, said Mark Strama, the former state legislator overseeing Fiber's Austin rollout.
Due to "network engineering considerations," that's likely to be how Google will continue its citywide buildout of Fiber over the next several years, Strama said.
"It's a complicated process," he said. "Building an entirely new fiber network from scratch takes time. We appreciate people's patience."
The company – like most cable and Internet providers – isn't releasing how many customers it has in the Austin area, but Strama said Google is pleased with how things are going.
"We're thrilled with the response from consumers," he said. "One of our objectives is to deliver it to as many people as quickly as possible."
Google crews recently hooked up Skyline Terrace, a Foundation Communities project with 100 studio apartments on West Ben White Boulevard. About 25 residents signed up for the service, including Jim Younger, a musician.
"For the people who live here, it's a real blessing to have access to quality Internet like this," Younger said. "It's a really good tool for me. They've really helped us."
Google Fiber offers 1 gigabit Internet service and more than 150 cable TV channels for $130 per month. Internet service alone costs $70 per month.
A free, lower-speed service is available to homeowners who pay a one-time installation fee of $300.
Google is also offering Fiber customers discounted "smart" thermostats from Nest, a company it acquired for $3.2 billion last year. The thermostats are being sold for $200 each and will be installed for free, Strama said.
"This is a great fit for Austin," Strama said. "We're a tech savvy community and we're an environmentally friendly community."
Google was the first company to unveil plans for 1-gigabit Internet in Austin, but other companies made similar moves after the announcement. AT&T and San Marcos-based Grande Communications both upgraded their networks and managed to roll out the service in select areas ahead of Google.
In the LaGrange and Smithville areas, LiveAir Networks provides 1-gigabit Internet, as well.
Time Warner Cable, the dominant cable provider in Central Texas, doesn't offer 1-gigabit Internet to residential customers, but has increased speeds in recent months.
©2015 Austin American-Statesman, Texas. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
