Google Fiber Expands to Southern Cities

When we last considered Google Fiber, the uber-fast network raised eyebrows with its initial foray into Kansas City. It was generally assumed KC was the petri dish for a much larger experiment from Mountain View's scientists, engineers, and marketing teams. With the recent announcement that the Fiber product will expand into mid-sized Southern cities, Google moves into its next expansion phase for its telecom initiative. Theverge.com, and other sources, reported the news today.

The four cities -- Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, and Raleigh-Durham -- make sense for Fiber. They contain a mix of data-hungry enterprises, young tech-friendly populations, cooperative local and state governments, and economically-defined communities. They also are somewhat under the media radar, with the possible exception of Nashville's music crowd. That arrangement suits Google's experimental purpose, which is to roll out and learn about Fiber far from Silicon Valley's tech sharks or New York's insatiable gossip machine.

In a world where speed rules, Google Fiber's capability becomes very alluring for households, institutions, and businesses. And what Google is offering is completely fair and within the Net Neutrality guidelines that Comcast and other cable providers are openly fighting. Whether one thinks it's wise for the world's largest search provider to rule the pipeline into physical structures is another story.