Google Fiber to tangle with Cox and Lumen in Arizona

Google Fiber is set to add a portion of another US state to its fiber footprint: Arizona.

The Mesa city council has approved a development agreement to bring a data center to the area, setting up Mesa to become the first city in the state to get broadband services from Google Fiber.

Figure 1: Google Fiber could start to deliver services to customers in Mesa, Arizona, by the end of 2023. Google Fiber has also built out fiber or fixed wireless broadband services to parts of Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Washington.
(Source: Janece Flippo/Alamy Stock Photo)

On July 11, the Mesa city council is expected to vote on measures that will enable Google Fiber to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network there, Ashley Church, GM of Google Fiber's West Division, explained in this blog post.

"If approved by the City Council, we'll kick off the engineering and operations effort right away and begin construction in Mesa early next year," she added.

Google Fiber has already set up a website where people in Mesa can sign up for updates on the project. Google Fiber and the city have not announced specifics about the anticipated reach of the buildout plan there, but US Census estimates show that Mesa has more than 186,500 households.

According to AZ Central, the city released a request for information on expanding fiber networks in the city and received seven responses. That includes responses from Google Fiber and one from SiFi, which is also requesting licenses to build a network in Mesa.

The news outlet noted that Google Fiber intends to use a "shallow trenching" technique to install fiber in 1-1/2 inch to 2-inch trenches along curbs on one side of streets.

Though Google Fiber is still awaiting approvals, AZ Central estimates that construction will start in early 2023, with customers starting to get service by the end of 2023.

Cox Communications and CenturyLink/Lumen are the primary incumbent broadband operators in the Mesa area.

Mesa may only be the start in Arizona

Google Fiber is reportedly exploring other network build opportunities in the state.

Google Fiber currently markets an uncapped, symmetrical 1-Gig residential broadband service for $70 per month, and a 2-Gig down by 1-Gig upload service for $100 per month. Google Fiber has phased out its original managed IPTV service; it now promotes virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) services from Google's own YouTube TV along with those from FuboTV and Dish Network-owned Sling TV.

Google Fiber currently provides services via FTTP or its fixed-wireless Webpass platform in the following markets:

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading