Is Google Fiber Coming to Salt Lake City?

I know there is a lot of hype about Google Fiber hitting Salt Lake City, and now to hear that is might be coming to Salt Lake City, a lot of people are wondering exactly what it is, what it does, and what it will cost. So here is just a little overview for those that are not down with all the tech-lingo.

What is Google Fiber?

Google Fiber is a high-speed fiber-optic internet network that allows residents to access the web at lightning speeds, up to 1 gigabit – or 1,024 megabits – of data per second both for download and upload, and also includes cable television services. What does that mean? Google Fiber provides faster Internet than you can imagine.

How fast is Google Fiber’s Internet Speed?

Well, let’s take, for example, my cell phone data plan. I use about 1 gigabit of data in a month! That means Google Fiber can access all of that data in a mere second. How fast does my current cell phone process my data? It processes it at 10.3 megabits per second. How fast could Google Fiber access my data? It can process 1,024 megabits per second. Absolutely amazing.

What is Google Fiber Doing in Salt Lake City?

Google is conducting a feasibility study this year to see if Google Fiber is right for Salt Lake City! Salt Lake City is one of 34 cities that are being looked into right now to potentially be a hub for Google Fiber. They will conduct soil, topography, housing density, map analysis, and other engineering tests, and make their decision on the cities that pass the tests by the end of the year!

Is Google Fiber Free?

Truthfully, it is not. If you want turtle speed Internet, then yes, but if you want the lightning fast Internet speed Google raves about, you are definitely going to pay for it.

Google Fiber in Provo has three packages you can get: free, $70/mo, and $120/mo.

• The free package lets you download 5mbps and upload 1mbps, with no data caps. If you compare that to Sprint’s average processing data plan of 10.3 mbps, this is not much, and definitely not what Google advertises as a high-speed Internet connection.
• The $70 a month package is the one that you want. It includes up to 1 gigabit upload and download speed with no data caps. This package is the one that Google Fiber raves about, so if you want the faster internet, this package is the way to go.
• The $120 a month package includes the 1 gigabit processing speed as well as 200+ TV channels, 1TB of cloud storage across Google drive, Gmail, and Google+ photos, all on a two year contract.

Well, there you have it. A small introduction to the amazing Google Fiber revolution. Interested in the rest of the 34 cities that might be getting Google Fiber? Visit their blog
to get more information.

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