Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) said on Wednesday that its fiber optic internet service would be coming to Colorado and four other states. This is the company’s first major expansion in years.
Fiber-to-the-home service is something the company is talking about with city leaders in those states. Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Fiber wants to spread to Arizona, Nebraska, Nevada, and Idaho, as well as Colorado.
In a blog post, CEO Dinni Jain said, “These states will be the main focus of our growth for the next few years. We will also keep growing in our current metro areas.”
Representatives for Google Fiber didn’t respond right away to questions about which cities in Colorado might be considered for the service and when the company plans to expand in the state. Jain told Reuters that Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Fiber plans to expand to cities in those states, including Mesa, Arizona, and Colorado Springs, where work has already started.
As of March, Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Fiber and Colorado Springs Utilities were talking about a contract for Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Fiber to rent space on Colorado Springs Utilities’ new fiber infrastructure. Springs Utilities says that the infrastructure will be done by 2023.
Jain said that Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Fiber chose the cities for its next round of growth based on where internet speeds are slowest. This week, it was not known if Denver was being considered for Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Fiber’s expansion. The company said that it would give more details about the locations in the coming months.
In the second quarter of 2022, Ookla, a company that looks at internet speeds, said that Denver had one of the slowest download speeds of all U.S. cities. Denver was ranked No. 94 for median download speed over fixed broadband among the 100 cities with the most people in the United States. Las Vegas, Boise, Phoenix, and Omaha, Nebraska, which are all in states where Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Fiber plans to expand, were also among the 30 slowest.
“Our team has spent many months traveling across the country and talking to cities to find the best way to get better internet to their residents and business owners as quickly as possible,” Jain wrote.
Alphabet Class A Fiber
Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Fiber hadn’t announced any new coverage areas in five years, so the planned expansion is a change. Jain wrote that over the past few years, Google Fiber has been working behind the scenes to improve its products and how it delivers its services.
The company is now connecting customers in West Des Moines, making Iowa its first new state since 2017. Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Fiber also plans to start building in Des Moines, which is close by.
In July, the city council of Mesa, Arizona, agreed to a license agreement that will allow the fiber-to-the-home service to begin in the city. Mesa’s fiber network should start being built at the beginning of 2023.
“We’re excited to be expanding our geographic reach once again, bringing better internet to more people in more places,” Jain wrote.
Featured Image: Megapixl @Adrian825
