Google Fiber internet service is now available in two more cities in the U.S. state of South Carolina, Tega Cay and Fort Mill, with speeds of up to 8 Gigs available to residents. It’s great to see Google’s ultra-fast gigabit internet service still pushing into new areas, but the rollouts are still facing long delays.
The rollout in Tega Cay was announced in October 2023, and was the first confirmed area in South Carolina for Google Fiber. The Fort Mill Town Council approved Google Fiber’s construction and deployment in May 2024. Tega Cay has a population over 12,000, and Fort Mill has around 24,000 residents. Both cities are suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina, which was one of the first areas in the United States with Google Fiber service. It took a while to finally go live, but better late than never.
Pricing for Google Fiber is identical in all areas, though some faster options aren’t rolled out everywhere. The 1 Gigabit service is $70/month, 3 Gig is $100/month, and 8 Gig is $150/month. All three options appear to be live in the new cities.
Related
What Is Fiber Internet (And How Is It Different)?
Fiber Internet is the latest change to the way data is transferred around the globe. It’s much faster than cable, way faster than dial-up, and can carry large amounts of data in a single line, often reaching multiple terabits of data transfer fairly easily.
Google Fiber said in a blog post, “With speeds up to 8 Gigs — whether you’re streaming your favorite shows, working from home, gaming online, or all of the above, our fast, dependable lifestyle internet products are available to keep up with your life — GFiber can keep up and then some. As always, all products come with all the equipment you need and no data caps or annual contracts. […] If we’re not at your address just yet, we’ll keep you posted as we continue to expand our network.”
The process for building out Google Fiber infrastructure involves building ‘aggregation sites’ (or a ‘point of presence’) in a local area, then building a ring of fiber cables that encircle a given city for branching service into any neighborhood. The branches eventually connect to a ‘fiber hut’ switchboard, then running more fiber cables to an LCP cabinet in a neighborhood, then setting up the final cables to homes. Those fiber-optic cables can be either underground or attached to utility poles, and digging lines for fiber cables is almost always required for the final connection to homes.
Building all that infrastructure takes a long time, especially the step of digging for underground connections. Google has also faced legal attacks from existing internet service providers in several areas, because they really don’t like new competition. In areas where fiber lines can’t reach all the way to customers, Google Fiber uses wireless deployments known as Google Fiber Webpass, like a more specialized version of 5G home internet.
You can check availability and sign up for notifications on the Google Fiber website.
Source: Google Fiber
