Google Fiber followed through on a promise to offer a 5-gig internet tier early in 2023, making the option available to customers in four of its 12 existing metro markets.
Customers in West Des Moines, Iowa; Kansas City, Kansas/Missouri; and Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah can now sign up for the symmetrical service for $125 per month. That cost compares to $70 per month for its symmetrical 1-gig plan and $100 per month for its asymmetrical 2-gig offering.
The 5-gig tier will be expanded to additional cities later this year and Google Fiber reiterated plans to debut an 8-gig offering in the near future as well.
Google noted in a blog that those who opt for the 5-gig plan will be upgraded to a 10-gig fiber jack during installation, teeing customers up to receive “even more internet when the time comes.”
The operator is the latest to move up the multi-gig stack, following in the footsteps of AT&T, Altice USA, Frontier Communications, Greenlight Networks and Ziply Fiber. Once it launches its 8-gig service, it will join the likes of Lumen Technologies and TDS Telecom.
In terms of where it will face 5-gig competition, data from BroadbandNow shows Google Fiber overlaps with AT&T in Kansas City.
The speed boost comes as Google Fiber works to significantly expand its footprint over the coming years in the face of stiffer competition from both fiber and cable rivals.
Google Fiber has already announced plans to deploy its service in Chandler and Mesa, Arizona; Lakewood and Westminster, Colorado; Des Moines, Iowa; and Omaha, Nebraska. It has also said it is looking to move into Idaho and Nevada, but has not named specific metro area targets. In the case of the former state, though, a recent grant filing indicated it is eyeing Boise.