Los Angeles is stepping ahead of Google in the fiber game — as the city plans to bring fiber to all of its 3.5 million residents and all businesses, Ars Technica reports.
Google got into the Internet Service Provider (ISP) market in July last year, but it only runs fiber for residences. Los Angeles Information Technology Agency GM Steve Reneker told Ars Technica that the city wouldn’t consider Google Fiber in its current form. “They only run residential. We’re requiring a component for the business. That would be a new market for them,” he says.
The new fiber network will offer free Internet access at speeds between 2-5Mbps — which may be subsidized by advertising — followed by paid tiers of up to a gigabit. Wi-Fi hotspots in public areas will also be powered by the network.
LA residents and businesses have to wait patiently for their city council’s ambitious plan though. Bidding for a vendor to lay out the fiber network may take three months, while negotiations could last six to nine months — before the work can finally begin.
Headline image via Kimihiro Hoshino/AFP/Getty Images
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