Google Fiber begins high

Dec 04, 2023

Google Fiber installation of what will eventually be almost 10 million linear feet of high speed internet access via fiber optics started in November in the city of Mesa.

First up, on one residential block near University Drive and North Standage, homeowners are getting the opportunity to buy in to the service with a variety of packages.

Ashley Church, general manager for the west region for Google Fiber in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a local. She was born in Mesa, grew up in Chandler and went to school in Tempe.

"It's going to mean competition in the market and an entirely great customer service speed. (Customers) will have the option of four products. For residents, it'll be one gig starting at $70 dollars and that is what it's been for the last 10 years since we launched Google Fiber in Kansas City 10 years ago. Two gigs will be at $100 and we'll also be introducing our five gig and eight gig products here at $125 and $150," Church said.

"We partnered with the city of Mesa, and they were open to our deployment methodologies and where we wanted to go and it's a great area that we feel like deserves competition in the market and deserves a more fiber provider options," Church added.

In July, Mesa approved license agreements for Google Fiber and three more fiber-optic companies in the city's attempt to bridge the digital divide.

SiFi, Ubiquity, Wyyerd and Google Fiber are now authorized to begin the permitting process on installing fiber-optic networks in the city's rights of way.

At the time the license deals were announced, Mesa Mayor John Giles said he wants to "future-proof" Mesa as technology gets incrementally better and infrastructure lags behind. Going to fiber, which will be how the world connects to the internet for the next few decades, would be "the gold standard," he said.

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