Please sign on, city council!

And residents jump on to complain about rents, traffic, wifi, google cars in 3...2...1....

Just not sure what the benefit of streamlining processes is for the city(or the community)?

Google Fiber is not cheap and the vast majority of people (myself included) do not need 1 gigabit speed. Most hardware can't really make user of that kind of bandwidth.

Yes, I understand some people WANT gigabit speed. I count myself in that group.

But what is the reward to the people of Mountain View for giving Google less hoops to jump through?

Google isn't a charity. They're goal is to make money. Let's not forget that.

I have no idea how long it will take for Google to install Fiber in Mountain View. But what I do know is that the mere threat of competition has forced Comcast and AT&T to improve their products and lower their prices in other cities.

I think AT&T already has their version called GigaPower up and running in Cupertino and is getting it ready in Mountain View. There were a bunch of ATT trucks and workers a few months ago on Willowgate near Central Expy and Central Ave. I asked they guys what was happening, one said it was for their new service coming up. What's the difference between the AT&T version and the Google version?

If Google Fiber is as good as their mobile service, then count me in!

That said, @Anand, I'm jumping in to complain about rents and traffic. I wish the big tech companies would notice that they've outgrown our small cities and start doing their growing where jobs are needed instead of packing more and more people into a region that's already buckling under the strain.

If PG&E, Comcast, and AT&T do not need to get city approval for any of their work in the city then why should we ask anything different from another common carrier?

I trust Google more that I trust PG&E, Comcast, and AT&T.

Before the .com crash fiber optic was the natural next step everyone was talking about as the need for a faster internet was imminent. Plans were being made by the providers, then the crash shut all plans down. Over the next few years they realized people were content to keep the status quo, and the providers had no incentive to upgrade their systems. They raked in the cash without having to put any out; life was good at AT&T

Then Google came along, a company that needs a super fast robust internet for the masses to use in order for Google to grow and profit. If the old boys wouldn't do it, Google would, and did. Now less than a year or so later AT&T is upgrading. That will cause the rest to follow suit because fiber is astoundingly faster than conventional transmission lines. Buy stock in the companies who makes fiber optic cable. Corning is one I think.

From what I could gather by a quick Google search (yes, I'm aware of the possible irony):

- AT&T GigaPower is not available in Mountain View. We're listed as "being explored":

Web Link

- Sonic.net does not offer 1 Gbit/s fiber service in Mountain View (I think because they leverage AT&T's equipment).

We can get fiber-to-the-node service, but that's it for the time being. Presumably AT&T and Comcast are doing the usual thing of sitting around extracting duopoly rents for as long as they can.

From what I could gather by a quick Google search (yes, I'm aware of the possible irony):

- AT&T GigaPower is not available in Mountain View. We're listed as "being explored":

Web Link

- Sonic.net does not offer 1 Gbit/s fiber service in Mountain View (I think because they leverage AT&T's equipment).

We can get fiber-to-the-node service, but that's it for the time being. Presumably AT&T and Comcast are doing the usual thing of sitting around extracting duopoly rents for as long as they can.

MV's so-called "City Council" has been bending over backwards to destroy MV with high density rental housing and ever horrible congestion to appease Google. In return Google owes us, at the very least, "last mile" fiber optic cable at highly subsidized prices to MV residents, schools, and businesses. I'd prefer ATT fiber, but I'm sure that ATT doesn't want to compete at a disadvantage on Google's home turf.

Still, I don't trust Google to be a competent long-term fiber optic partner. I remember how incompetently Google mismanaged its highly touted MV free WiFi Internet disaster. Google abandoned support for this experiment as soon as it became apparent upon implementation that it couldn't possibly provide the bandwidth necessary to support MV's demand.

So, if Google's presence keeps ATT fiber out of MV, the very least our village idiots on the City Council must do is to insist upon contractual guarantees from Google that it will continue to support and expand its MV fiber Internet network to meet future needs for an extended period of time --- 10 years at the minimum. Google must also agree to pay penalties if it does not meet its contractual obligations to we, its MV customers.

MV's so-called "City Council" has been bending over backwards to destroy MV with high density rental housing and ever horrible congestion to appease Google. In return Google owes us, at the very least, "last mile" fiber optic cable at highly subsidized prices to MV residents, schools, and businesses. I'd prefer ATT fiber, but I'm sure that ATT doesn't want to compete at a disadvantage on Google's home turf.

Still, I don't trust Google to be a competent long-term fiber optic partner. I remember how incompetently Google mismanaged its highly touted MV free WiFi Internet disaster. Google abandoned support for this experiment as soon as it became apparent upon implementation that it couldn't possibly provide the bandwidth necessary to support MV's demand.

So, if Google's presence keeps ATT fiber out of MV, the very least our village idiots on the City Council must do is to insist upon contractual guarantees from Google that it will continue to support and expand its MV fiber Internet network to meet future needs for an extended period of time --- 10 years at the minimum. Google must also agree to pay penalties if it does not meet its contractual obligations to we, its MV customers.

Dear god. I hope it won't take 3-years. Please make Fiber happen asap. Comcast and att are goddamn unusable.

We've heard this promise for years. Google knows they get special handling by our Council, so they install their super-fast fiber optic in OTHER than their hometown first. Our Council should have asked Google to put MOUNTAIN VIEW first, but instead, they are "yes men" for anything Google wants, and our Council demands nothing in return to benefit residents.

Google should be ashamed that their super-fast cable is available in other cities - while all they did for MV was blunder with their Free Wi-Fi Internet fiasco - and then shut it down. If Google had any respect for our Council and our city, they would give MV fiber optic asap AND at a greatly discounted price, with a promise to maintain and support it.

However, as long as our Council is licking Google's boots, Google sees no incentive to do right by their hometown.

Google's done enough damage to the City of Mountain View. Enough is enough! City council, JUST SAY NO!!

We licked MV's boots? We just rejected the proposal for a monster indoor/outdoor/office/park campus and gave the space to LinkedIn.

Critical thinking appears sparse in Martens-Carmelita!

Scott, You wrote that "Comcast and att are goddamn unusable." Are you sure it isn't your router or computer or something other than the supplier? We have Comcast and my son has ATT Uverse here and we haven't had any problems with Internet. Wondering if you've checked the devices you're connected to to make sure the blame isn't going to the wrong companies? I'm sure they could be having problems but it also seems people blame the internet provider sometimes when the issue is emerging else like a old router or ancient computer, etc. You probably know all of this and I hope my message isn't insulting. You can also check the signal by running ypur own test at www.speedtest.net

Comcast has outages all the time in many neighborhoods. Customer service is terrible. Business service level makes the customer support much better, but internet service should not need maintenance as much as the Comcast service needs.

Google fiber in MV will be great, because thousands of their staff live here and if it has problems will make sure it gets fixed.

Hi - That's interesting - we've been here with Comcast for 7 years and maybe had a brief problem three times and each time they fixed it remotely. Sounds like we have been very very lucky with Comcasf performance. One huge issue about Cpmcast is that their price keeps going up and up. You could be right or wrong about your Google theory of getting it fixed quickly. That didn't happen when Google provided free internet to Mountain View last time. They band aided the service together and then just dropped it. But yes, maybe this time they won't be such a poor provider since they were so bad last time.

Very, very lucky with Comcast!

Google wifi was not used by resident employees--they had high speed internet at home and work. With fiber to their homes, they will have a vested interest in resolving problems problems.

Like I said but you keep hounding on a silly point -- we will have to see but Google history is not good at running right out to fix Moj rain View problems because they are based here. You are pretending that your theory is a fact. We will have to see how it actually happens but your statement here is not supported by fact. That, in fact, is a fact and we shouldn't make such grand assumptions that impact our beautiful city.

Silly point? I don't see how bringing inexpensive high quality, high speed internet to our houses is silly. You are basing your whole assertion that problems in the Google wifi pilot are exactly how google fiber turn out to be. What is your "fact"?

And, to top it off, you INSIST that Comcast has almost zero problems. Not a single one of my friends and family with Comcast share that opinion.

Yawn. You have become a terrible toothache, the kind of person that always has to have the last word even when wrong. Good luck.

As a current Comcast customer, I will add to the people who have experienced outages as well as poor customer service. I am also a former AT&T customer as well, and I didn't switch because I thought Comcast would be more reliable.

I switch between the two services to get the lowest rates but neither one is satisfactory.

I hope Google Fiber will arrive here and give MV residents a third choice.

Comcast and AT&T can do whatever they friggin' want and justify their results with whatever explanation they wish to provide. I just want someone else to come in and slam the door in their faces because they deserve it.

Another unhappy Comcast customer here. In fact, svsport is the first person I've ever heard say they're satisfied with their Comcast service. My friends in India ask me why I don't switch providers and are astonished when I tell them that Comcast is the only company serving my address. Apparently the norm in India is to have a number of ISPs to choose from. If Google and Comcast (and/or AT&T) are competing for our business, then all of them will have to be on their toes and we consumers stand to benefit.

Anke, we must be very lucky. I am not lying to you. I can tell that, as I mention first, we have the latest hardware. I also said that my son uses ATT Uverse a few miles away and has also not had issues in Mountain View as people here complain about. So those are our reality. Two different houses and two different providers. We make sure the equipment is high quality, and we get good results with Comcast and ATT here. Sorry to not add to the bellyaching of hating Comcast and ATT but that is our reality. It is all just expensive and the price keeps going up. As I mentioned before, you may want to test your performance at www.speedtest.net and see what kind of performance you're getting. Trying to help here. Do what you want. I guess we are very lucky and it sounds that no one in Mountain is getting decent internet but our two homes.

@svsport, I certainly didn't mean to imply that you're lying and I apologize if I came across that way. What I meant to say is that except for you, I've never heard anyone say that they are satisfied with the service they get from either Comcast or AT&T. That said, I do indeed use speedtest.net (as well as other connectivity testing tools) and also, when Comcast works, it's fine and I have no gripes. The problem - in addition to the escalating cost that you also mention - is the abysmal customer service when something goes wrong.

For example, once when my service went out, after waiting over an hour in their phone queue, I gave up and drove to their store. To make a long story short, after several days and numerous phone calls, store visits, modem swaps and technician visits, they determined that the cable for my apartment had been disconnected at the service box. And my next bill showed a charge for submitting the problem at the store instead on online. So they expect customers to go online to submit a problem getting online (!). And this wasn't even an anomaly; it's par for the course. I've consistently gotten the same lousy service from them and everyone I talk to has similar stories. _This_ is why we'd all welcome some competition.

Ha ha ha.. the people who think Google fiber is going to be the end-all be-all of ISP's you're kidding yourselves.

Anyone remember how great the Google Wifi was in Mountain View? Anyone recall the awesome support we got with that?

Google Fiber is a sliver of Google's universe. It's revenue is probably a rounding error in their accounting department.

I'm fine with competition.. but this isn't it. Comcast and AT&T are not worried at all about Google Fiber coming to Mountain View.

Not sure why we need to let Google skip steps in the process without getting something in the return. So far no one has told me exactly what the city (us) are getting in return for these favors.

I'm so excited. A family member has had Google fiber in Kansas city and said the customer service is amazing!!

@Otto Maddox:

Google WiFi was *FREE*. Google Fiber is *NOT* free, it is a *PAY* service. Big difference when you have paying customers.

Make sure they provide the low cost "Free"service for at least 10 years and have them put it in writing.

Google previously provided Truly Free WiFi and had agreed to provide a second 5 years of service then they shut the system down after only two years.

Google is a driver: Offered free wifi, then suddenly everyone in town was offering it so no need for Google to drive anymore. No we all have access to free wifi in most areas.
Fiber: None of the internet providers were moving towards fiber until Google drove them to it by starting their own offering.
We'll all be using fiber within 5-10 yrs because Google forced the industry to move on it.

I've had Comcast for years, and the price is constantly rising without notice. I call and they negotiate, but then they raise it again a few months later. When I had recurrent problems, they gave me their X1 service for no additional cost, so at least they were trying a little (after many calls and a house call).
I have a MAC and I cannot access the news videos on the home page. Comcast tells me that "they're working on that". I can access videos on every other site possible - but not the Comcast home page? The technician that came out to my house told me that "Comcast engineers don't have that as a priority". I reminded him that this is Silicon Valley and a provider should be able to get their home page videos to work with MACs. I cannot get a straight or consistent answer from any of them. The last time I called, they told me that "Apple just hasn't kept up with Comcast technology". In the meantime, I'm paying for a service offering (news videos) that I cannot access.
I believe competition is healthy and I welcome Google to the mix. Believe me, I'll be the first in line.

I totally agree with you except for one point -- with so many much much much better home pages, why would you want to use Comcast's home page? You can go to a Apple or Google news page and also port your email over there. Jeez even porting over to a yahoo home page is a better than using the Comcast home page. We have Comcast for our internet and tv but never use their wacky home page.

I really like the idea of fiber to the home. I would gladly sign up for GoogleFiber and ditch my DSL-based service in a heartbeat. The cost, based upon looking at prices elsewhere, is very attractive for 1000 Mbps versus my current claimed 20 Mbps. That is also for full duplex service. This will not be a GoogleWiFi experience….

If we look at many of the complaints on here, they are based upon working with service providers that have large customer bases, that are profit-motivated first and foremost, and that lull you in with great offers, keep you staying with carrots now and again, but really lack in customer service when it comes to the small things. Once they've got you on board it's a lot of work for you when there are problems. You take what they offer and that’s it. The only way to really vent and change is to talk with your money and switch providers. The problem is that they’re so big they really don’t care if they lose a single customer. We at least have a market in which to choose a different service and competition give us those choices.

The City of MV really needs to start looking at the Google relationship and many of their decisions with these companies. As we build more housing to accommodate the many people who want to live and work here we should realize our transit infrastructure is not able to keep up. It’s scary sending our kids onto the streets to school and there are not enough adequate bike paths or alternate ways of getting all these people around. We really need to think about these kinds of decisions from many angles. Similar examinations should be made of a city wide fiber infrastructure.

The agreement to bring fiber to the City of MV should be looked at as a vehicle on which the customer can, if he wants to, make a choice. The fiber in this case should be piloted, installed, and maintained and operated by Google for many years. Google has an interest in bringing this service to as many places as possible but especially to MV. It will help them provide excellent internet service to many of the employees that live locally, hopefully allowing many of them to be better connected and perhaps reduce commute trips during peak hours. It will help with many other aspects of creating better-connected homes so that next generation and profit-driven content can be marketed to us. However, the infrastructure should be ultimately owned and leased to different providers by the City of MV. The City can create revenue off this over time and this fiber infrastructure could be a platform to homes and businesses on which we all have a choice when we decide Google or brandX has become a provider we’d like to switch away from.

Many of you present your opinions as if they are fact. Without the data to support your sweeping accusations, its just opinion and your opinions are clearly meant to incite.
Fact- Google pays a lease for having their headquarters on land owned by the City of Mountain View to the City of Mountain View. That amount makes up over 20% of the city's operating budget.
Fact - Google pays for the free city shuttle. The schedule in on the mountainview.gov website. You should look into that.
Fact - AT&T is installing a fiber network in Mountain View. When you see their trucks on city streets, digging in the street, this is why.
Any citizen is able to attend the city council meetings. Their agenda is posted online the Friday before the Tuesday meeting. Rather than belly-ache online, turn off your computer and come to the meeting and do something about what angers you.
This is your city, take ownership!

Fact- When you run down a laundry list of facts prefaced with the word, "Fact", you put some people of so much they don't even bother to read what you wrote. It's not fair or logical, but that's life on the big msg board.