Google unveils '100 times faster' broadband Internet service
The new Google Fiber TV service will be priced at $120 a month for a package of major broadcast networks, 1 gigabit per second Internet speeds and 1 terabyte of cloud storage.
For $70 a month the service will not include the traditional TV channels.
The new advanced service will offer features such as the ability to record eight TV shows at a time and store up to 500 hours of high definition programming. The user can use a tablet or smart phone as a voice-activated remote control if the user wants. Google is offering its Nexus 7 tablet with the Google TV app to early users of the service.
Google Fiber TV will allow users to search live channels, Netflix, YouTube, recorded shows and tens of thousands of hours of on-demand programming.
The new service will also be available to residents of Kansas City, Kansas.
"The Internet is a huge positive force, and yet we are at a crossroad," said Google Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette, who has played a lead role in overseeing the Fiber project. He said Internet speeds had leveled out for broadband since around 2000, and Google would be making it 100 times faster.
"We at Google we believe there is no need to wait," he said.
The download speeds would be around 1 gigabit a second, according to Google executives who were presenting a demonstration.
Google invested in building out fiber in Kansas City, Missouri in 2011 after inviting cities back in 2010 to help identify communities that would be interested taking part in the project.
Correction: An earlier version of the story stated the internet and download speeds as "1 gigabyte" instead of "1 gigabit". A correction has been made.
COMMENTS (7)
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I am still using "one MB" broadband package...
@Antebellum:
You are lucky. we got that package from PTCL for 2 months last Dec-Jan and after having no internet for much of the and on and off internet for most of the rest, we gave up and got fiberoptic. By the way, our guys tried to clock the speed, was never faster than 750mb at best
Please correct it. Its not 1 Gigabyte. It is 1 Gigabit (Bandwidth always calculated in bit not bytes).
@Kaleem
If google comes up with download speed of 1 megabyte per second in pakistan, it will beat all providers
I don't know where you are coming from but I for one am comfortably getting 4Mbps. Sure PTCL's customer service is like sewerage water but, by-and-large, their connectivity is not. Please don't be negative all the time.
In islamabad we have fiber provided by one operator but speed unfortunately leaves much to desire
@Siddiqui sb, correction please. If google comes up with download speed of 1 megabyte per second in pakistan, it will beat all providers :)