Competition in broadband and cable is scarce at best. That’s in part because when a new player does try to build service somewhere, incumbents like AT&T will pull every legal maneuver they can to try and block it. But one court has now ruled on a contentious case in Louisville, KY, throwing out AT&T’s lawsuit and paving the way for competition to come to town. [More]
google fiber
Google Fiber Shrinks Once Again, May Be Restructuring For A More Wireless Future
By 2.16.17
Bad news for Google Fiber fans… and worse news for employees. Word on the street today is that the division is shrinking even more, sending its workers into other parts of the company and slimming down everything it can. [More]
Nashville Asks Court To Dismiss Comcast’s Google-Fiber-Blocking Lawsuit
By 12.1.16
It’s time for the next episode of everyone’s favorite legal drama, “Comcast and AT&T do everything they can to block Google Fiber from coming to Nashville.” Most court proceedings are a months- or years-long series of back-and-forth filings before any hearings on the merits ever take place, and this one is no exception. This time around, it’s Nashville’s turn to ask the court to hear it out. [More]
Comcast Stops Offering Gigabit Internet For $70/Month In Cities Near Chicago
By 11.15.16 — Updated: 11.19.16
Earlier this summer, Comcast began offering a new internet service in the greater Chicago area that offers fiberoptic-like speeds but over existing cable lines. Right away, there were questions about the price: In other markets where Comcast sold this service, the rate was only $70/month for people willing to sign a three-year contract, but Chicagoans weren’t initially being offered this discount. Then the company appeared to change its mind, offering that lower rate, though even then there was confusion. Now it looks like that discounted rate is off the table for the handful of Chicago-area cities where it had been an option. [More]
Google To Fiber Cities: Don’t Freak Out, We’re Not Cancelling Anything
By 11.4.16
When Alphabet joyously announced last week that Google Fiber was so great that they were going to stop expanding it, lay people off, and lose the CEO, some confusion followed. Google Fiber is, after all, still kind of a nascent business — in most cities where it has a presence, it’s still just a toe-hold, with more expansion waiting on the horizon. So are the other towns and neighborhoods who have been waiting for service still going to get it? [More]
FCC: No, Our Rules Are Not An Excuse For AT&T To Block Google Fiber In Louisville
By 11.1.16
Despite recently putting many Fiber plans on hold, there’s still a decent chance Google might bring its high-speed internet service to Louisville. And where there’s the possibility of competition, lawsuits arrive to stop it. Some of those complaints invoke the FCC, but the Commission has now chimed in — and it’s saying, basically: Hey, not so fast! Leave us out of this; you’re on your own. [More]
Comcast Joins AT&T, Sues Nashville To Slow Down Google Fiber Construction
By 10.26.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
The “fun” in Nashville never ends… at least, not for lawyers who enjoy suing the city. They’ve got plenty of work ahead of them, now that Comcast is joining the “let’s sue Nashville to block new competition” club. [More]
Google Fiber Hitting “Pause” On Expansion; CEO Departing, Layoffs Planned
By 10.26.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
The CEO of Google Fiber wants you to know that Fiber is doing great. Super great, y’all. So great, in fact, that he’s leaving, employees are being laid off, and expansion into any “potential” city is totally halting immediately. [More]
Charter Files Lawsuit To Slow Rollout Of Google Fiber In City Where It’s Not Even Offered Yet
By 10.5.16
Seven months after AT&T went to court to put up a roadblock to the deployment of Google Fiber in Louisville (even though it’s not yet a market for Fiber), the folks at Charter have laid down their own legal challenge, accusing the city of being unconstitutionally biased in favor of Google and AT&T. [More]
AT&T Taking Nashville To Court To Try To Slow Down Google Fiber
By 9.23.16
They said they’d do it, and so, by gum, they’re doing it: Surprising basically nobody, AT&T has filed a lawsuit against the city of Nashville and its officials, seeking to block a recently-passed law that would make it possible for Google Fiber to come to town. [More]
Nashville Council Adopts Law To Let Google Fiber Come To Town; AT&T Prepares To Sue
By 9.21.16
Google Fiber is one step closer to being physically able to bring their service to Nashville, which is great news for Nashvillians. It’s less good news for Comcast and AT&T, which do not want more competition in town, and which are revving up their legal engines to fight it as much as possible. [More]
Comcast, AT&T Try Again To Stall Google Fiber In Nashville By Writing Law To Slow It Down
By 9.20.16
There’s been a fight a-brewing in local politics in Nashville for weeks. At its most basic, it’s some disagreement about utility regulation. But it’s also, an another level, every fight about broadband competition — and the lack thereof — going on in the U.S. right now, distilled down into one city. Our players? Google, Comcast, AT&T, and the Nashville metro council. [More]
Nashville Advances Proposal To Let Google Fiber In Despite AT&T, Comcast Protests
By 9.8.16
Google Fiber wants to come to Nashville. Nashville wants to let it. But incumbent providers — AT&T and Comcast — really hate letting more competitors horn in on their game. And all of that is the stage upon which this week city politicians advanced their proposal to let Google Fiber come to town. [More]
Downsizing Rumors, Wireless Tests, Few Subscribers: What Exactly Is Going With Google Fiber?
By 8.29.16
In the few markets where it exists — however sparingly — Google Fiber has managed to provide enough of a threat of competition that the nation’s biggest cable/telecom providers have been willing to cut prices and/or improve service. But a number of recent developments, including a report that the Fiber staff is being significantly downsized, have some questioning the future of the service. [More]
Google Fiber Is Now Signing Up Customers For Service In Salt Lake City
By 8.25.16
Almost a year and a half after Google announced it would be bringing its new fiber service to Salt Lake City, the company has started the sign-up process for the city’s residents. [More]
Nashville Mayor Wants Google, Comcast, AT&T To Sit Down And Make Nice Over Fiber Plans
By 8.16.16
Incumbent cable and telecom companies push back hard when Google wants to come to town with Fiber service. But while corporations file legal challenges and yell at each other by proxy, residents are stuck in the middle without competitive service. [More]
Portland Joins The “Don’t Hold Your Breath Waiting For Google Fiber” List
By 8.15.16
Remember how last week, it turned out Google was temporarily suspending their plan to build out more Google Fiber in their own silicon valley back yard? Well, metro San Jose can feel special about one thing with the delay, at least: it’s not alone. [More]
