Google's official blog for its Fiber internet service, announcing new cities, service updates, and strategy changes.
HN links it as the official source for Fiber announcements, such as new cities, San Francisco apartments, and the 2016 decision to stop deploying.
Going to the 404 page reveals a menu which hints (well, it says that there's going to be some plural number of cities, not too much else) at what is being announced tomorrow: http://fiber.google.com/savethedate/404
The main menu has links to "About", "How to get it", "Plans & Pricing", "Cities", "Help" and a button "Pre-Register"
Also, since that page doesn't seem to indicate the time, the Google fiber blog (http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.com/) says it's at 11AM CDT. Also an impressive stat is that they've apparently laid down over a hundred miles of fiber.
> I was under the impression it's a consumer-only service.
You're correct:
> We are currently focused on our Fiber-to-the-home network, which is for residential consumers. We hope to be able to offer Fiber to small businesses at some point in the future. To stay updated on any new developments, please follow our blog http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.com/
but that mostly means there's little uptime guarantee, a small business/startup could use GF either eating potential downtime or with a backup stabler line in case fiber goes down.
I'd agree completely if Google's goal was to make money from Fiber, but I suspect their goal is to demonstrate that fiber is economically viable and shame other ISPs into deploying it. By that standard, winning on the easiest setting seems unlikely to convince anyone.
See http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/think-big-with-gig-our-experimental.html http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Many-Realizing-Google-Fiber-Will-Never-See-Massive-Deployment-123796 for Google's motivations.
In Kansas City, the "pick your plan" phase only came after the "qualify your fiberhood" phase.
http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-to-get-google-fiber.html
> After the rally, we’ll let you know if your fiberhood has reached its goal. If so, you can sign up for your service package. The first homes will get service shortly after the rally ends, and all qualifying neighborhoods will receive service before the end of 2013.
Slow installations, not slow uptake. Installations started in in mid-Nov. Based on their schedule (http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/kansas-reminders-and-our-first-missouri.html), it seems Google can rollout 1-2 "fiberhoods" a week. With 180 fiberhoods, it is going to take a while to get an impressive installation number.
Official Google link http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.com/2016/02/san-francisco-google-fiber.html
Apartments and condos only, should have known better than to get my hopes up for a few seconds https://www.evernote.com/l/APMXftBrJ9pDqYaymNPSZ59E-4jMUpl8aPUB/image.png