Rumors of the death of Google Fiber are greatly exaggerated, at least in Irvine.
The internet service provider unit of Alphabet Inc. is advertising internet speeds up to 2 gigabytes a second to 70 apartment communities owned by Irvine Co.
“By next year, we’ll have built out their entire Orange County [apartment] portfolio,” Erin O’Neill Schultz, who leads Google Fiber’s efforts in Southern California, told the Business Journal.
It’s also targeting newer residential communities in Irvine, such as the neighborhoods of Orchard Hills, Portola Springs and Laguna Altura, where new homeowners are being inundated with marketing mailers.
This year, Google Fiber began offering 2 gig download speeds, although it’s run into some snags because the needed router equipment has proven more difficult to manage.
“We are the fastest ISP in most of the cities of which we serve,” Schultz said. “We’ve been really excited by the customer response in Orange County.”
$60B Plan
Google’s fiber initiative has struggled in recent years after announcing a $60 billion plan in 2012 to much fanfare. It began in Kansas City and spread to a few cities like Atlanta and Austin.
In 2016, Google put a “pause” on its plans amid speculation that the program cost more than it expected.
As of 2020, Google Fiber was enabled for only 0.01% of California households, with most of that in the Irvine area, according to ConnectCalifornia, a broadband consulting firm.
Google has given some hints in recent months that it might restart its fiber plans by announcing expansion plans in Des Moines, Iowa, and North Carolina.
Fastest in West
Since the mid-1980s, Irvine Co. has been installing empty conduits among its properties, setting the foundation to deliver future technology. In 2016, the company announced a partnership with Google Fiber to bring high-speed internet to many of its properties in Irvine.
“Google Fiber, Cox and other providers have been able to quickly deploy fiber-optic networks in Irvine and Newport Beach because of the existing underground conduit installed over the past few decades by Irvine Co. as part of its master-planning process,” Tim McClain, vice president of Technology & Innovation for Irvine Co., told the Business Journal.
“This network expansion has helped Irvine become the fastest network on the West Coast for upload and download speeds according to Ookla, the global leader in fixed broadband and mobile network testing,” he said.
Schultz noted that when Google announced its initiative in 2012, the U.S. ranked No. 29th worldwide on internet speed. Currently, it’s up to No. 14 because rivals are spending more to boost speeds, she said.
“The mission is to help all communities get access to the internet that is fast and reliable,” she said. “This pandemic has put front and center” the importance of speed.
“We believe in choice. Competition is a good thing.”
