Google Fiber may be coming to Jacksonville

Google would bring super-high-speed Internet, another TV option to city

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It's one of the most popular search engines and innovative companies on the planet and after a major announcement Wednesday, Google could be bringing the fastest Internet the River City has ever seen to Jacksonville.  

Jacksonville city leaders announced Wednesday that Google Fiber will bring service that is 85 times faster than the average residential Internet delivery.

Google Fiber could bring gigabit Internet (up to 1,000 megabits per second) to Jacksonville businesses and homes. 

Jacksonville is one of 18 cities (map below) where Google Fiber is looking to expand service. Google would become a service provider like Comcast or AT&T U-verse. Tampa was also added to the list of cities Google Fiber is expecting to add.

"This is a big deal on the economic front," Mayor Lenny Curry said. "(It would allow us) to continue to create an environment that will make Jacksonville a destination city for jobs and talent. Most importantly for our people to have the best technology and speed."

"Abundant high-speed Internet can help communities grow stronger, laying a foundation for innovation and economic growth," said Jill Szuchmacher, Google Fiber's director of expansion (pictured below).

There's no timetable for the expansion, but that process typically takes at least a year. No costs associated with the price of the service were discussed.

Jill Szuchmacher, Google Fiber's director of expansion, joined Jacksonville mayor Lenny Curry for the announcement.

"We've begun working with city leaders to explore the possibility of building a super-fast network for Jacksonville," the Google Fiber website read. "This means understanding local requirements and challenges -- from roads and infrastructure to permits and utility paths. This will take time."

Tech expert Chris Hamer said Jacksonville is a prime location for Google Fiber, which was first added in Kansas City in 2012.

"They will capitalize on it because now people can say, 'I have this service that goes with your Smart TV. We can actually start delivering movies on demand, entire TV series on demand. You can start watching custom programming," Hamer said. "There's a trade-off in this, because a lot of people will be able to cut the cord in terms of satellite TV, because now they can stream from the Internet and go to Netflix and Hulu and all the rest of these. Or they can pick up their subscriptions with HBO and Showtime and watch on-demand content."

Google declined to go into how much money the company could be investing into the Jacksonville project, but according to Techcrunch.com, when Kansas City was chosen as the first city to have Google Fiber, the estimated cost was $84 million just to pass the fibers and not actually connect them to 150,000 homes.

According to Google Fiber, in Kansas City the Basic Plan is free after a one-time construction fee of $300. The plan called Gigabit Internet is $70 and the Gigabit Internet Plus TV runs customers $130 a month.