Google Fiber is now available in Kansas City on a selection of monthly plans, as opposed to the one-time payment for construction and free connectivity thereafter. Now, as noted by Recode, the company will offer its service for free to economically underserved communities while everyone else can pay out $50 a month without signing a contract.
It's likely Google has altered its pricing model for Fiber to attract more customers. The substantial installation fee turned off potential customers, but this new monthly fee could entice those who seek faster connectivity without having to take out a loan to afford the installation. The $50 a month will bump those on the free 5Mbps up to 100Mbps.
Those who reside in Kansas City will have until May 19 to switch to the new plan in order to continue using Fiber. Should you require even more from the web, there's a $70 a month option for a gigabit connection.
Reader comments
Google drops free Fiber in Kansas City
I would say it was part of a deal to get their first site established and that now the requirements have been met for a given time period.
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I don't have an issue helping out but why are you charging me $50 and someone else 0 for the same thing?
It's much easier to blanket a "country" in awesome coverage when they are the size of a state park.
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Then since Kansas city is just slightly bigger than SG, why can't they be the same as SG? If all cities in the US focus on their own developments, each cities would be just like Singapore, with great network infrastructure and stuff. But they don't :(
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Because obviously,their is a whole country to go with it,Einstein.
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100mbs for $50/mo? Wish I could get that with Cox or MediaCom.
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$50/month (SGD) would get Singaporeans 500mbps unlimited if we sign up for the network alone. Cable TV and benefits like 1 year handset upgrade costs 10 bucks more per month.
For my telco at least, if you are part of what they called the "Singtel Circle", you will get unlimited data usage for the whole of Sunday. Thats right! Unlimited 4G LTE island wide every Sunday!
I am sure living up to LG's branding haha! Life's Good!
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Heh...I love reading about everyone's trials and tribulations regarding the state of broadband in the US. FWIW, here's mine:
Our town has 100Mbps cable and 25Mbps DSL ISP's. For the last 8 years I have lived 1.5 miles (2.4 km) outside of said town where the only access I can get is 1.5Mbps down and 256Kbps up DSL. For this incredible honor I pay $40 USD per month.
So ya, Singapore is sounding pretty good right about now. ;-)
US can definitely do better in network infrastructure and pricing! Given the expertise and knowledgeable people in your industry! :)
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The problem is many of the companies in that industry have profit as their bottom line.
I think the reason you got such a negative backlash for your comment was because in the us, 70 dollars for gigabit broadband is amazingly cheap, compared to other providers.
So yes, its expensive here, but your comments on how crazy that concept is are much better served on an article regarding comcast, time warner etc.
Hell thats costly. In slovakia (eastern europe :) ) You can easily afford 250Mbps UP and DOWN for about 30 euros (33dolars). Or 500 down , 30 upload for about 25 euros.
i dropped some fibre 10min ago, feel a lot better...
Lol
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I don't think this was mentioned but the installation fee is now $100 (in Kanas City right now) but it is waived with all of the plans of you sign up for a year
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Who has to take out a loan for 300 dollars? Wtf
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Lol, you would be surprised. The best is the fast cash scams against your next paycheck.
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Why do payday lenders exist and make a fortune at charging up to 500% interest?
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Apparently a lot of people with 10,000 PayDay advance stores across the US with 300% interest rates
The honeymoon is over Kansas City!
Lucky bastards! I am paying I am paying for 20Mps with Time Warner Cable and getting dial-up speed. Every time you call tech support, I get an automated message telling you to reset your modem.
In Canada, I'm paying about $100 CAD for 100 down & 10 up but at least I have unlimited usage (which cost an additional $30/per month), so I would be paying about $70-80 CAD for the speeds I'm getting
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How big is Singapore? Apples and oranges
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More like a grain of sand to an Apple tree
US is roughly 13600 times bigger than Singapore. Given that not all areas are fully developed, and if we only compare prices of wired connections of developed areas in USA and SG, you will need to admit that the prices of US's wired connections are very very very expensive. Hands down.
I just went to verizon's site and it listed that a 500mbps connection costs 270USD. Isn't that too much? US carriers should charge lower so that you guys can benefit more. I know that the market structure is not suitable for this to happen but this would definitely improve SOL.
I think this is where SG do better, keeping prices low and competitive at 50SGD for 500mbps. Country size does matter. But it should not prevent US carriers from charging such high prices.
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Idk what Google is doing but it sure is a rip off. USD70 for 1gbps and USD300 for installation fees for 5mbps?!
In Singapore, you can pay USD44 (Converted from 60SGD for 1gbps up/down connections. The whole country is fiber ready and all you need to do it to go to a telco to buy the network plan. Even so, the installation of the fiber terminal is just 150SGD+ and the telcos usually install it for free as a package. (Most people actually have it installed when SG rolled out fiber a few years back). 10gbps is also available country wide for consumers/businesses and it costs just USD140 per month (converted from SGD190). Really affordable! Just imagine the 10gpbs up/down speeds.. :)
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Kansas City is not in Singapore, therefore your comment is irrelevant and useless trolling.
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+1
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But don't you think its overpriced? If you don't think so then its fine..
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By US standards, no, it is not remotely an overpriced service.
Maybe US citizens are used to the prices already so they find it okay? To me, paying 270USD/month for 500mbps is wayyy too much.
One way to gauge is to see the percentage of monthly disposable income (after taxes) spent on wired networkings. For average singaporeans, the average income is roughly about $3500 SGD. So a 500mbps connection at 50SGD is abt 2% of our income. What about yours if you got the 500mbps connection?
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I dont know how you got the $270/month but its just $70 per month for the 1 gb internet which is only $25 extra compared to what you are paying. Also, this is a really good deal considering how others are charging for 1 gb internet.
Maybe in Singapore the gov pay for all the infrastructure cost
I got the numbers from verizon's website! For 500mbps speeds.
If they are charging you 70USD for 500mbps speeds per month then its good haha! I was just shocked when I saw the $269.99 monthly for the 500mbps on verizon's website. Maybe you can go and check it out :)
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Nobody claimed Verizon was a good deal. That's part of the point of Google Fiber, which IS a good deal.
Average US internet pricing is far worse. Maybe $50/mo for 50 Mbps on average, and that's only IF you have access to high-speed (cable/fiber) internet.
I like how you refer to Singapore as the entire country - yes, but it's also just a single city, and a very well off city at that.
Singapore is a country lol! But it is relatively small so it is considered a city as well. A country city is what I call it :)
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Even though it is a different country we are talking about, its good to compare as it allows us to see if the prices is reasonable or not. As long as we compare using a similar currency.
But, its true that we need to consider other factors like average incomes, unNt rates, and developments etc ect..
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Not really. Sinjapore is drastically smaller then US and therefore they have to cover less of an area. Every single telco is making up profits in large cities that they lose in expanding to smaller cities throughout the US, however it looks really good on there taxes for write-offs
Well you see in the US. I pay USD 85 for a 75mbit connection from Verizon FIOS and that is incredibly cheap in the US. Most pay well more for less service. I would love to bay only USD 70 for a 1gpbs connection but that is not available. The US is behind when it comes to internet because the large companies made sure not to compete with each other and instead carved the country up with lines to extract the most money while providing subpar services.
Are you getting unlimited bandwidth with that price? Or is that an extra add-on
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I think all of FIOS has no data cap and I use a lot uploading video as well as downloading a lot downloading games and streaming.
I also know that I can max out my 75mbit connection both up and down.
Most of the US has no Fiber, like 90%, and the US is a million times larger than Singapore. Business' are not about to waste their own money installing Fiber and cutting into their record profits year after year when they can charge more year over year for the same messed up broken system.
1996 telecommunications act.
We as the taxpayers have already payed for fiber. The large companies have received money AND huge tax breaks to implement a fiber optic system in the US.
They have not been using their "own money" for decades!
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Kansas City.......Singapore. Right, I get the comparison.
Read above :)
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Yeah, I got it. It was a joke.
I live outside St Louis and I'm paying Charter $65 for 100 mbps.
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Singapore must be a great place, we'll just move everyone from Kansas City to singapore. Real talk though, and don't take this the wrong way, but your average income is drastically less then in the US. Meaning that our telco expenses are higher then yours and to make the same amount of money they need to charge more.
Oh and wait for it...that's actually a....really good deal here!
The $3500 income is really the avg Singaporean's income but most people earn way more than that lol. SG has low employment, low inflation, healthy BOP and GDP so all is well. (SG is also considered the most expensive city to live in but I am surprised that our connection rates is well priced, which is good. If you look at vehicles however, a $15,000 car in the US costs about $120,000 in SG so its no joke haha)
US however has rising unemployment rate (therefore, income inequality) and for all I know have a rising budget deficit. So making cost of living lower in the US would help increase standard of living for those who are less fortunate. (Ps. On a side note, please do not vote for Mr Trump. ((I know I know, I shouldn't interfere as I'm not standing in your position)) but he plans to cut trade between US and China, which would be detrimental the the global economy. (I am an economic student so I know this better :))
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Singapore is the size of my Pick Up truck. Irrelevant post.
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Singapore = 277.3sq miles
Kansas City = 314.95sq miles
Kansas (the state) = 82,2 thousand sq miles
United States = 3.8 MILLION sq miles
It cost money to lay fiber across the US for connectivity. Regardless of who laid the fiber, it costs everyone. Those rates arent bad considering the HUGE infrastructure we need to pay for compared to Singapre.
What the cities of each state could do is to improve on the networking infrastructure in the city and make it affordable for the people living in the city. As for the other areas of the states, carriers maybe can charge slightly higher prices for services haha.
Sometimes its good to be small. (But mighty) :)
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