Google Inc (GOOG): This is Not the Summit for Fiber Expansion

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has moved quickly – almost as fast as its fiber-optic Internet speeds – to implement its Google Fiber project around the Kansas City metro area. The concept was introduced  to Kansas City a little more than a year ago and it has already been spreading to outlying suburbs around the city. This of course can be all Google’s control as part of checking the feasibility and interest of 1 gigabyte-per-second Internet speed, but based on the reactions of the various city and town governance bodies, this also seems to ber partly on demand by consumers – and probably a good deal for the cities and towns to allow Google to build the infrastructure.

The deal must certainly be sweet, because a ninth Kansas City suburb has signed on to the Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Fiber project in just the past year, as the city of Lee’s Summit, Mo., Thursday night voted to approve three agreements related to the installation and operation of fiber-optic broadband in the city limits. Lee’s Summit is the fifth Missouri suburb of K.C. to sign on to the deal, following Raytown’s approval in May.

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has agreed to pay for all installation and operational costs for its Google Fiber project to create what some call “Fiberhoods,” in which Google will establish a fiber-optic network in a neighborhood once a certain percentage of homes sign on to have Google Fiber in their homes and they pay a monthly subscription. Fiber reportedly is capable of speeds that are up to 100 times faster than what is found in traditional U.S. broadband. As the deal was just signed Thursday night, a post on a Google blog gave no information as to when Google Fiber would be switched on in the city, but it appears that Google can start installing soon and begin collecting subscriptions in some neighborhoods within weeks. Some of the first Fiberhoods in Kansas City had their service flipped on within three to four months of the neighborhoods first signing on to the installations in their area.

What are your thoughts? Has the Google Fiber project moved past a project phase for Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), where it will be a legitimate business channel that will challenge other local cable providers? Give us your take on this concept in the comments section below. Are you happy with your broadband service, and do you think there is a demand for such high-speed data delivery?

DISCLOSURE: None