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Google postpones decision on bringing fiber service to the Atlanta area

Avondale Estates Decatur Kirkwood and East Lake Metro ATL

Google postpones decision on bringing fiber service to the Atlanta area

Source: https://fiber.google.com/
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Source: https://fiber.google.com/

Source: https://fiber.google.com/

This story has been updated … 

Google is postponing an announcement about whether it will bring its gigabit internet service to the Atlanta Market.

The company in February announced more than 30 “potential” Google Fiber around the country, including Avondale Estates and Decatur. The company says its service will be 100 times faster than average broadband speeds.

The internet search giant had said it would make an announcement about which cities would receive the service by the end of this year. A spokesperson told Decaturish on Dec. 18 that announcement has been delayed until after the holidays.

The spokesperson said, “This year gigabit Internet has moved from idea to reality, as mayors and city leaders across America have stepped up and made high-speed broadband access a priority for their community. We’ve been working closely with cities in Metro Atlanta to figure out how we could bring them Google Fiber, and we’re grateful for their vision, commitment, and plain old hard work. While we were hoping to have an update for cities before the holidays, we have a bit more work to wrap up; we’ll be back in touch sometime early next year.”

That February announcement led to a flurry of activity as cities worked to complete Google’s checklist. All of the cities met Google’s May 1 deadline, and the company said it would make its announcement by the end of 2014.

While everyone waited for that news, AT&T announced its intentions to provide a gigabit internet service, and Comcast announced it would be expanding its 10 gigabit fiber network to businesses in the Atlanta Metro area.

The city of Decatur published a statement in reaction to the news.

“Expanding Google Fiber to new areas of the country is a significant undertaking, and large-scale infrastructure projects can sometimes take more time than originally planned,” the statement says. “Decatur continues to work with Google to answer questions about processes like permitting and communications. Allowing sufficient time for planning and engineering will help ensure a smooth and efficient process. The City of Decatur looks forward to our continued work with Google in 2015, and we remain optimistic about metro Atlanta’s prospects for selection.”

Avondale Estates Mayor Terry Giager was upbeat about the announcement.

“Naturally, we are anxiously awaiting word from Google Fiber,” Giager said. “We are excited that our city is being considered and fully realize that it will be worth the wait.”

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