The small town of Provo, Utah, is officially going to be the third city in the U.S. to get Google’s Fiber high-speed internet service. Last week the announcement was made, and we later learned that Google was acquiring their current Fiber network, iProvo, for just one dollar. Today the deal was approved by the city council but we also learned Google won’t be spending much, at least not at first.
iProvo is the current Fiber network available throughout the greater Provo and Orem region, and Google has acquired iProvo and will be doing a complete overhaul to bring their blazing fast ISP service to the area. Not only will Google be getting the service for just a buck, but we’ve now learned the city of Provo will actually be fronting all the cash – at least initially.
Provo will be fronting the initial $1.7 million for upgrades, engineering costs, and the initial equipment to get things started. In return however, Google will be offering a more than basic and pretty fast 5 megabit internet service absolutely free to the entire city of Provo for 7 years. All you need to do is pay the $30 installation fee for Fiber and you’re all set. That’s potentially 120k people all getting free internet from Google.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune our initial reports that the city will still be required to pay off the $39 million loan from years past was accurate. This means while the city will still be getting taxed on iProvo and it’s technically not free, Google Fiber will be free for 7 years. It’s an interesting approach but Fiber will provide blazing fast speeds to schools, colleges, hospitals, city buildings, traffic light operations and more for years to come. For you football fans, go BYU, and good luck Ziggy Ansah in the draft today!
