Google Fiber joined Lumen Technologies as one of the only big name operators to offer a symmetrical 8 Gbps broadband tier, trotting out the service in its newly launched market of Mesa, Arizona. The rollout comes little more than a month after it debuted a 5-gig plan in four markets. Mesa marks its fifth 5-gig city.
The 8-gig service costs $150 per month, which is half the price of Lumen’s comparable service tier. That rate includes a Wi-Fi 6 router and up to two mesh extenders. Pricing for its other tiers remains the same, with 1-gig offered for $70 per month, 2-gig for $100 and 5-gig for $125.
For now, Mesa is the only market where the 8-gig offering is available. However, Google Fiber also recently received approval to bring its service to nearby Chandler and plans to begin construction this year, meaning more customers in the Phoenix metro area will have access to 8-gig service soon.
A Google Fiber representative told Fierce "8 Gig will be available at launch in all our new markets, and we're in the process of upgrading our existing cities to offer 8 Gig as well. We expect this to take place over the next year."
The rollout in Mesa comes less than nine months after Google Fiber received approval to build in the city and four months after it began construction there. Indeed, Google Fiber is moving fast in Mesa, and for good reason – the operator is one of at least six fiber players vying for space in that particular market. Lumen is among its potential competitors. However, Lumen currently only offers its 8-gig service in Denver, Minneapolis and Seattle.
To be clear, the 8-gig plans are not the fastest commercially available broadband. For instance, Wire 3 is offering customers in Florida 10-gig service for $120 per month while residents in Chattanooga, Tennessee can get 25-gig service from EPB for a whopping $1,500 per month. But both Google Fiber and Lumen have vastly larger footprints, meaning their 8-gig services have the potential to become much more widely available.
Mesa is part of Google Fiber’s plan to expand into five new states over the coming years. As part of this initiative, it is also targeting Chandler, Arizona, which is near Mesa; Omaha, Nebraska; and Lakewood and Westminster, Colorado. It has yet to confirm where it will build in Idaho and Nevada, but it appears to be eyeing Boise as one potential site.
It is also looking to flesh out coverage in states where it already offers service. So far this year Google Fiber has struck build agreements with the cities of Council Bluffs, Iowa (just over the border from Omaha); Parkville, Missouri; West Lake Hills and Travis County, Texas; and Brookhaven, Georgia. It recently began construction in Leawood, Kansas after receiving approval to build there in July 2022 and started work in Smyrna, Tennessee four months ago.
This story was updated 7:10 pm ET 3/30/2023 with comments from a Google Fiber representative.