Google Fiber nixes free Internet offering in Kansas City
April 11, 2016 | Bobby Burch
It’s often said there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
And in Google’s case, there’s no such thing a free fiber connection — at least anymore.
The tech titan last week nixed its free Internet offering, which dished out download speeds of 5 megabits-per-second and upload speeds of 1 mbps. Google has offered the free service — which required a one-time $300 construction fee — since its expansion into Kansas City about four years ago.
The company, based in Mountain View, Calif., replaced the free offering with a $50 per month plan that offers 100 megabits per second. The plan has no data caps, but doesn’t include added features of the pricer gigabit plans such as 1 terabyte of cloud storage with Google Drive or Gmail.
Google Fiber recently celebrated the five year anniversary of when it first announced that the service would be coming to Kansas City.
Google in March announced that it would be offering “fiber phone” service in its fiber cities, which includes Kansas City, Kan., Kansas City, Mo., Provo, Utah and Austin, Texas. The service — which provides unlimited local and nationwide calling — costs $10 per month.
Google is now expanding its fiber service into several other cities, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City and San Antonio.
Google will continue to offer free Internet access to people in affordable housing developments without construction or equipment fees, according to ARS Technica.
In February, Google Fiber began working with the Housing Authority of Kansas City to connect its super-fast, gigabit connection to residents of local public housing properties for free. Google launched the program at West Bluff Townhomes in Kansas City, Mo., connecting all 100 homes to its service. Through Google’s partnership with ConnectHome, a federal initiative to speed Internet adoption by families living in public housing, families who sign up for access may also purchase discounted devices and learn new computer skills.
Featured Business
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
MO cannabis, MO workers: Businesses staff up as Show-Me marijuana market glows cherry
Editor’s note: This story was originally published by Missouri Business Alert, a member of the KC Media Collective, which also includes Startland News, KCUR 89.3, American Public Square, Kansas City PBS/Flatland, and The Kansas City Beacon. Click here to read the original story. COLUMBIA, Missouri — Marijuana employers across the state are hiring a flood of new…
KC-created comic’s evolution in motion as ‘Scarlet Knight’ quests toward animated streaming series
Kansas City comic book creator Juaquan Herron is adding another chapter to his ongoing graphic novel series, “The Scarlet Knight,” though this next iteration will be even more animated. Describing the coming move as a long-expected next step, Herron announced he’s begun working on a five-episode animated video series — each about 10 minutes long…
Venboo heads to market(s), hoping to make local vendors the next Crumbl Cookies with its event booking tech
The Venboo app — which connects individual vendors and event organizers on a single platform — will soon gain a dashboard that allows all parties to connect more seamlessly, detailed Juaquan Herron. The dashboard is expected to further streamline the user’s booking experience of Venboo, which lets vendors set criteria for events that match their…
Behind the blooom deal: How Morgan Stanley at Work boosted its robo-advising tech with startup buy, but kept a human touch
Editor’s note: Morgan Stanley is a financial supporter of Startland News. The investment management and financial services company has branches in Leawood and on the Country Club Plaza. Acquisition is scaling blooom’s tech ‘beyond our wildest dreams’ Integrating a Kansas City startup’s tech into its globe-spanning robo-advising portfolio — along with securing a soft landing…