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Google Fiber is pleased to announce John Abbot has recently joined our team as the company’s first Chief Financial Officer (CFO). In this role, John will oversee GFiber’s Finance, Strategy & Analytics, and  Accounting teams, bringing over three decades of experience in  media, technology, infrastructure, telecom, and finance to his role. 

“John brings a wealth of experience as a CFO and deep industry knowledge to help guide GFiber during this pivotal time for our company,” said Dinni Jain, GFiber CEO. “He understands this business from many angles and his expertise at helping companies grow and scale along with his exceptional brand of leadership are exactly what we need to take the next step in our development.”

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Prior to joining GFiber, John served in CFO roles for multiple companies, most recently Dataminr, a leading AI business. He also held these roles at Datto, which he led through their initial public offering, as well as at Cumulus Media, Telx Holdings, and Insight Communications. John has deep knowledge of the finance industry, spending time at both Morgan Stanley in their Media & Telecom group and at Goldman Sachs in their Global Energy & Power group. A graduate of the US Naval Academy, where he earned a BS in systems engineering, John also holds a Masters in Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. 


Posted by the GFiber Team.




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Seattle has been a GFiber Webpass city since 2017. Since then we’ve been steadily growing, bringing fast, reliable internet to multi-tenant communities across the city from Belltown to Capitol Hill to the U District, as well as many other neighborhoods. 

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And now we’re moving beyond the city limits to expand our network in the metro area, not only with our point to point wireless offering, but we’re also exploring bringing GFiber’s fiber-to-the-home broadband network to several other nearby cities and towns.

The Puget Sound area has long been home to tech and innovation, which make the region a natural fit for GFiber’s gigabit and multigig offerings. We’re in advanced conversations with Kent, and are having similar discussions with several additional municipalities in the area about bringing GFiber’s high speed broadband networks to these communities that need an approach more tailored to neighborhoods with single family homes. We hope to have more to share here very soon, so please stay tuned!

And in the meantime, we’re bringing GFiber Webpass to even more places - beginning in Bellevue, where we expect to serve our first customers by the end of the summer. We’ll be expanding to other municipalities in the areas as well, so to make sure you are keeping up with the latest on availability in the Seattle area, join our email list. 

Posted by Erin Schultz, General Manager - Pacific Region
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At GFiber, we are striving to be an internet company for the next generation of Internet users — meeting the challenges of today and building for the demands of tomorrow. This only happens by anticipating what’s coming and being ready for it before it gets here. We’re striving to always be one step ahead, so our customers never have to worry about their internet. From continuing to push multi-gig speeds to the home and in the home to using AI and machine learning across many facets of our business, we’re working to make next gen internet the reality right now. 

A Modern Network Built for Today. . .and Tomorrow
Last month, we rolled out 5 Gig and 8 Gig in San Antonio. While we’ve been making announcements like this regularly over the last 15 months, this isn’t just an empty promise designed to make headlines. This milestone marks a huge step forward for Google Fiber’s entire network and our ability to serve our customers well into the future. With the San Antonio launch, nearly all GFiber customers in single family homes can get our full range of symmetrical multi-gig products. This is a fundamentally different way to deploy a better network. GFiber is upgrading our entire network infrastructure — proactively replacing our GPON network with XGS PON — not picking and choosing specific neighborhoods or streets, to ensure we have a cutting-edge network for today and one that can support our customers’ future internet needs. 


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This also means that no matter the age of the network — whether in our “hometown” of Kansas City or our newest metro of Omaha — GFiber customers are served by the same state-of-the-art network architecture. GFiber is investing in the holistic customer experience to ensure that customers have exactly what they need when it comes to their internet. To do this right, speed to the home, speed in the home, and the quality and reliability of that speed are all equally important. By the end of 2024, we expect almost all our new customers to be on XGS infrastructure, which will set them up for future needs. But we’re not stopping there - we are also deploying Nokia 25G PON technology across our cities to go beyond 8 Gig (more on that later).

Powerful Wi-Fi that Complements our Network
But speed to the home is just the beginning. No matter how much internet is coming into your home, Wi-Fi will dictate the speed reality for the vast majority of customers. GFiber is just as obsessed with speed in the home; that is, speed over Wi-Fi. Over the past year, we’ve retired legacy routers and moved to deploy Wi-Fi 6E to all new customers. We’ve also proactively replaced our legacy network boxes with newer devices and all 1 Gig+ products include mesh extenders — both at no cost to our customers. And by the end of 2024, we’re planning to incorporate new Wi-Fi 7 devices into our offerings as they become readily available. In fact, we’re already using a custom built Wi-Fi 7 solution with our GFiber Labs 20 Gig product.  

These advances make multi-gig speeds over Wi-Fi possible. More importantly, they ensure that customers get the experience they expect and that they can truly use the internet they are paying for. Consumer devices and apps will continue to evolve to be able to harness more and more speed. As GFiber customers upgrade their devices, they will be rewarded with speed boosts because they already have the right network, routers and extenders in their homes.

Quality you can count on - literally
GFiber’s quality of service approach doesn’t stop at the front door. To make sure that we’re delivering on our service promise, we’re continuing to up our game to keep our network strong. We’re obsessed with proactively identifying potential issues, so we’re doing proactive sweeps of our entire network daily and using advanced telemetry technologies to monitor both our network and equipment. Our technicians and support reps also have these same tools.  

We want our customers to have visibility into the quality of their in-home internet experience,  so we’re launching a personalized home network quality score in the next few months. It’s also why we are intensely focused on providing a whole home quality score. This score sums up the robustness of our network for each customer on connectivity, speed, and coverage  — all the way to the GFiber Wi-Fi router and beyond to the mesh extender. It includes the quality of the internet coming into their home and to the router, how well their network is working inside their home, down to whether the extender is positioned ideally in the home to maximize coverage. Through the GFiber App, customers will have more transparency into their network, and have the tools they need to ensure their network is working as intended. 



Preparing for what’s next — GFiber Labs

This is really just the beginning. How we use the internet is only getting more advanced and what we demand of our network today will seem laughable in retrospect. GFiber Labs is aiming to take on this challenge, in partnership with other companies, working to push the internet forward. We announced that we would be deploying Nokia 25G PON to enable us to offer symmetrical 20 Gig in every city by the end of 2024. We’ve begun incremental upgrades from XGS to 25G as part of our GFiber Labs early access to this product. Response was incredible, we had over 4000 people express interest in being one of the first to try out 20 Gig, and we started installs in the Triangle in North Carolina in April.

We’ve already seen some pretty incredible use cases from some of our 20 Gig testers. Austin PBS is using 20 Gig to upload the entire archive of 50 years of Austin City Limits, and in Provo, the United Way of Utah County is putting 20 Gig to work to serve the community and better connect their clients. 

Our goal is to anticipate what’s coming and build the ISP for the next generation of internet customers. What’s at stake? Everything! Our customers, our employees, a better internet, and an innovative online experience that drives progress across the industry for all of us. We are working to be better at every point in the internet delivery process and to help move the entire ecosystem forward with us. This isn’t just the next gen internet we know that our customers deserve, it’s the one they will need. 

Posted by John Keib, Chief Technology & Product Officer



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In February, GFiber announced that we’re bringing high speed internet to Clark County, our first foray into Nevada. Now, we're pleased to share that we’re planning to expand that network to the City of Las Vegas. The Las Vegas City Council is currently considering an agreement that will enable us to bring fast, reliable internet to Las Vegas residents.

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Over the past decade, Las Vegas has been one of the fastest growing cities in the country, attracting new people and businesses daily. GFiber is looking forward to connecting this vibrant community to great internet service, with symmetrical speeds up to 8 gig, as it continues to grow.

GFiber is already working on the engineering design for Las Vegas. The Las Vegas City Council will vote on our agreement on June 5. Once that is in place, we can get to work on the permitting process with city staff. GFiber plans to begin construction in the City of Las Vegas early next year and serve our first customers in 2025. Local residents who want up-to-date information on service availability or the construction process can sign up here.

Viva Las Vegas! 

Posted by Ashley Church, General Manager, West Region


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Today on the GFiber Blog we’re featuring a guest post from Tech-Moms, one of our incredible Utah partner nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping women transition into tech and achieve long-term success in their careers through training and counseling. As a past cohort graduate, Katie Swenson, the organization’s Social Media Marketing Manager, reflects on her journey to Tech-Moms and why the recent partnership with GFiber is a game-changer. 

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My journey into the tech world wasn’t typical. I didn’t major in computer science or dream of coding as a child. Instead, I took what some might call the “traditional” route in life. After graduating with a B.S. in Human Nutrition from Southern Utah University in 2011, I got married, and embarked on a career in sales for a large food distributor. For seven years, I honed my skills in empathy, accountability, customer service, and negotiation, all while raising three young children with my husband. 

In 2020 the pandemic hit, and the restaurant industry, my primary clientele, suffered overnight. I found myself scrambling to help these businesses stay afloat while still juggling the demands of motherhood. The constant blur of balancing work and home life was taking its toll, and I knew I needed a change. 

In June 2020, I made the decision to leave my corporate job and become a stay-at-home mom. It was a leap of faith, knowing it would mean a significant pay cut for my family. Unfortunately, just two months later, I lost my mother to Mesothelioma after a 6 year battle. Amidst grief and uncertainty, I stumbled upon an article about Tech-Moms. 

Tech-Moms? Learning to code? It sounded intimidating at first, but something inside me urged me to sign up for their spring 2021 cohort. And it turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made. Over the course of nine Saturday classes, I learned to design a website from scratch and found a supportive community of women that I never knew existed. 

This experience ignited a passion within me. I just knew I wanted to be a part of Tech-Moms in any way I could. When a part-time position for their social media marketing manager opened up, I jumped at the opportunity, despite not having much experience in the field and being pregnant with my fourth child. Two years later, I’m still learning and growing every day, surrounded by an incredible team while witnessing lives being transformed within this community, just like mine was. Being present with my children has been an immense blessing. There is no shortage of memories being made. 

With GFiber’s support, we are reaching even more women and able to provide them with the resources and opportunities they need to succeed in tech. Collectively, we’re breaking down barriers and empowering women to pursue their dreams, regardless of their background or previous experience. 

At Tech-Moms, our mission is simple yet profound: to empower women to thrive in the tech industry. Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom looking to reenter the workforce, or a seasoned professional seeking a change, we’re here to support you every step of the way. Learn more about Tech-Moms at tech-moms.org

Posted by Katie Swenson, Social Media Marketing Manager











Tech-Moms is always accepting applications on our website. We run cohorts each fall and winter: September through November and January through March. There are two options for our core training program: in person each Saturday for 9 weeks (Utah only), and a virtual course taught in 2 sessions per week (generally one weeknight and Saturday morning for 9 weeks). Course tuition is $400 (financial assistance is available). Our students learn basic front-end web development, including HTML, CSS, and Javascript, and build their own simple website as a final project. We also have extensive career exploration opportunities during the course. Upon completion, each student will receive additional support in choosing their next steps, including additional training and education, job search assistance, or both. Our graduates are moving confidently into tech roles across all industries, all with the long term support of our Tech-Moms community. We truly live by our motto: Once a Tech-Mom, Always a Tech-Mom. 




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In the next installment of our Speed on Business series, Jakob Burke, Director of HomeCare Advocacy Network of Des Moines, a provider of in-home senior care services, shares how the company helps families in the Des Moines area navigate senior care using innovative technology and quality internet to assist in providing consistent, compassionate support. 

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At HomeCare Advocacy Network (HCAN), we understand that excellent care depends on the power of connection. Our goal is to bridge the gap between high-quality care and families who need it most. 

Our expansion into Des Moines in February, marked a new chapter of dedicated service. Our mission at HCAN is to provide personalized care that feels like an extension of one’s family. Whether in the comfort of one's home or within an independent living facility community, our caregivers lend a hand with daily routines or offer specialized care.


In the ever-changing landscape of home care, high-speed internet service is critical to how we operate. From maintaining our social media presence to ensuring our 24/7 admin team is just a quick call away, Google Fiber keeps us connected to the families we serve and the healthcare professionals we partner with in Central Iowa.

Using GFiber is more than just about internet connectivity; it's about ensuring that video calls with families discussing care options are uninterrupted, digital training sessions for our caregivers are crystal-clear, and every administrative task is handled with utmost efficiency. It is the basis of our commitment to be there when needed, without fail.

Looking ahead, the long-term vision for HCAN is to not only meet the growing demand for quality home care but to revolutionize the industry. We are pioneering flexible care plans and innovative solutions, like our soon-to-be-launched AI monitoring tools, that provide additional support for our clients. Our specialized training programs, partnerships with hospice and home health organizations, and commitment to continuing education for our caregivers are what set us apart in a sea of home care options.

At HCAN, it’s not just about the services we provide, we care deeply about the culture we create within our team by fostering an environment where respect is paramount, and where the well-being of our caregivers is as important as that of the families we assist. Each family represents a unique story, a life enriched, a stress alleviated. And, as we continue to grow and support more families in need, we remain inspired by the possibilities of what thoughtful, connected care can achieve. 


HCAN is proud to deliver care that’s as resilient and enduring as the community we serve. For those seeking a partnership in care or simply exploring options, HCAN is here, arms wide open, ready to be the support you need, when you need it most. Together, we can navigate the journey ahead with confidence and compassion.

Posted By Jakob Burke, Director, Home Care Advocacy Network of Des Moines




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It’s been awhile since we shared an update on what’s happening with Google Fiber in San Antonio. We’ve been hard at work upgrading our network to provide the best customer experience possible and to make sure we meet the evolving needs of our customers.  

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Faster

As we’ve made the improvements to our San Antonio network, we’ve also been installing XGS PON — which means, as of today, many San Antonio residents can sign up for GFiber’s incredibly fast 5 Gig and 8 Gig services. With both of these products, customers get symmetrical uploads and download speeds, a GFiber Wi-Fi 6E Router (which allows for up to 1600 Mbps over Wi-Fi) and up to two Mesh Extenders to extend your home’s Wi-Fi coverage, and, as with all our plans, unlimited data, professional installation, and access to GFiber’s highly-rated customer service.

Farther

Across the country, there has been a consistent struggle to broaden access to the internet. In 2023, according to the Texas Comptroller’s office, nearly one-third of households in the San Antonio metropolitan area lacked a high-speed internet connection, one of the worst rates of any metro area in the country. In fact, over ten percent of the city’s population had no internet access at all. This number is staggering and unacceptable. GFiber has been working with the City of San Antonio and Bexar County to connect more homes in the region to fast, reliable internet. Since we began offering service in San Antonio in 2016, we have continued to expand to new neighborhoods throughout the metro area, including most recently, neighborhoods in and around Windcrest, near Morgan’s Wonderland, and the Stone Oak and Encino areas. We also recently started serving our first neighborhoods in unincorporated Bexar County—in areas located both to the east and west of the San Antonio city limits.

Fairer

Access is just one piece of digital inclusion. In our efforts to further digital equity initiatives in the city, we are working with a number of committed community organizations, including:





San Antonio is a vibrant city with a rich culture. GFiber is committed to expanding its footprint in the city, providing more San Antonians with what they deserve: fast, reliable internet. And there’s more to come! 

If you are interested in what’s happening in your neighborhood, you can sign up for updates here. You can also follow us on social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) to get the latest news on GFiber. 

Posted by John-Michael Cortez, Government & Community Affairs Manager.

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We’re living in the age of broadband internet — internet service providers (ISPs) are announcing major infrastructure investments, committing to fund significant network upgrades and building new high speed service in communities across the country. At the same time, the federal government is also investing unprecedented amounts to support the deployment of broadband in underserved areas. Given the ubiquity of the internet in our daily lives, these efforts are both long overdue and not enough to give customers what they really need from their ISP — yes, fast, reliable internet, but also a redefined customer experience that is both easy to navigate and to understand.


As part of its effort to improve broadband service nationwide — not just in terms of speed but also in terms of customer experience — the federal government is requiring all ISPs to provide broadband “nutrition labels” on their websites when purchasing service. The point of these labels is similar to the nutrition label on a cereal box (or any other food). They are designed to help consumers make clear comparisons between broadband plans based on key factors such as price and speed and to help them understand what they get for their money. 


This type of transparency is a part of Google Fiber’s origin story. Google was built on the idea that information is powerful. And finding the information you need when you need it can change the game. In fact, doing this made the internet navigable — a digital world where information was readily and easily accessible to anyone online. Historically, easy and transparent are not words that many people would associate with ISPs, and that has to change. Nutrition labels are a start in the right direction for our industry.


Choice, and even more importantly, understanding that choice, benefits customers. Informed customers are happier customers. Since the very beginning, ISPs have played confusing games when it comes to price and speed. From that mysterious 13-month price bump to incurring extra fees for everything from equipment to data usage, it can be impossible to know what you are actually getting for your monthly payment (or even what that monthly payment will be). 

 

That’s why GFiber has been fully supportive of the FCC’s broadband labels from the very beginning, and why we launched them early last October — six months ahead of this month’s deadline. These labels empower the consumer and set up a strong foundation for what will hopefully be an extremely long term & satisfying relationship for customers. 


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And that’s a big change. As an industry, when it comes to customer trust and satisfaction, we’re only beating gas stations. We have a lot of work to do. Internet access isn’t a luxury — it’s a basic need in a world where more and more of our lives are online. Helping customers understand what they are paying for, not only in terms of speed, but also the additional information on the broadband label, like additional charges for equipment rentals, installation fees and/or data caps, has the potential to change the ISP industry’s behavior radically. (Note: GFiber does not have these types of additional fees.) GFiber aspires to be a big part of that change — it’s what we’ve been working towards for the last twelve years and what we bring more places as we grow.  


The FCC’s broadband labels put all the information out there, giving customers control so they can make the decision that works best for their households. Everything is on the table, so there’s nowhere for disingenuous tactics to hide. 


As a country, we’re making a huge investment in our internet infrastructure. Initiatives like this one will help make sure that customers are getting a return on that investment, improving the overall customer experience and ensuring more transparency across the industry. And that’s a very, very good thing for all of us. 


Posted by Dinni Jain, CEO
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Get ready, Nebraska! Beginning today, Google Fiber’s first customers in Omaha can sign up for the service of their choice. We’re starting in the Aksarben neighborhood  — residents can choose 1 Gig, 2 Gig, 5 Gig or 8 Gig to meet their family’s internet needs.



And what better way to celebrate than with a little bit of BBQ (as a Kansas City native, we’re big on our barbecue). Thank you to Oklahoma Joe’s in Aksarben Village where we proved there was such a thing as a free lunch for the customers who came in today to learn more about GFiber. Omaha City Council Member Danny Begley, who represents the neighborhood, was on hand to mark the occasion and to welcome us to Omaha officially. 


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Whichever GFiber internet service new customers in Omaha select — 1 Gig for $70/month, 2 Gig for $100/month, 5 Gig for $125/month or 8 Gig for $150/month —  they also get symmetrical uploads and downloads and equipment and installation included at no additional cost, along with no annual contracts and no data caps. We also offer GFiber for Business. Local businesses can choose between Business 2 Gig for $250/month or Business 1 Gig for $100/month. 



GFiber is just getting started in Omaha. We recently started construction in Bellevue and Council Bluffs, and we’re hard at work to connect more of the city as quickly as possible. As new segments are completed in Omaha, we’ll offer service in those neighborhoods. To stay up to date our construction progress and service availability, sign up here.


Posted by Andy Simpson, Central Region General Manager 










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We’re launching 8 Gig in our largest and oldest market — the original Google Fiber metro — Kansas City. The city was recently designated as one of the country’s 31 Tech Hubs by the federal government, a move that recognized both the incredible assets and resources already in the area and the potential for innovation that that infrastructure represents. GFiber is proud to have been part of that growth and development over the past twelve years, helping to drive innovation and testing the limits of speed as our first test site for 20 Gig. 

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KC was also one of the first GFiber cities to get our 5 Gig service. We’ve been steadily rolling out our new multigig products in Google Fiber cities across the country since early last year. To do this, we’re updating our network in each city to XGS PON to ensure that we can meet our customers’ needs as they grow over time. We’re upgrading our network holistically across all our markets. 

Included in the monthly cost, 8 Gig customers get symmetrical upload and download speeds of up to 8000 Mbps (wired), along with the GFiber Wi-Fi 6E Router (which allows for up to 1600 Mbps over Wi-Fi) and up to two Mesh Extenders for strong whole home Wi-Fi coverage and, as always, unlimited data, professional installation, and access to GFiber’s highly rated 24/7 customer service.   

You may be wondering why it’s taken us about a year to bring 8 Gig to Kansas City when it was one of the original cities to get 5 Gig in 2023 while other cities have gotten 8 Gig sooner. KC is our largest market — so supporting 8 Gig speeds across our entire service area required us to touch infrastructure across every part of the Kansas City metro area. This is great news not just for our newest 8 Gig customers, but for all our KC customers (and in other cities too), because it means that GFiber’s network is set up to support rising demand for more speed for years to come.

Kansas City has been on the forefront of internet speed since the very beginning, and it’s still very much on the fast track — sign up for 8 Gig here!

Posted by Nick Saporito, Head of Product




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Our small business blog series Speed on Business relaunches featuring Thomas Powell, owner of Tru Skills Barber Shop, a barber shop/ clothing store (SnSlivelife) in Atlanta, who also owns a convenience store called The Village Bodega. He shared with us how access to fast reliable internet has improved service and impacted customer satisfaction in both of his businesses and helped him build on that success.

At Tru Skills Barber Shop, we pride ourselves in putting smiles on every customer that walks through our doors. I opened the shop in 2017, inspired by the understanding and ideology that everyone should look and also feel the effects of a good haircut in a safe and professional environment.

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We are located in the Buckhead Optimist Lofts in downtown Atlanta- ready to serve customers with the best hair cuts, hairstyles and our urban motivational wear clothing and accessories. 

Our experienced professional barbers/ stylist engage in detailed discussions to understand your hair goals, preferences, and the look you’re aiming for. Then using a combination of skills, top tier products and styling tools create amazing haircuts and hairstyles. Our customers always feel valued and satisfied as their hair is transformed into an art form- at the end of the appointment. 
   

Barber shops historically serve a unique social function for community gathering, conversations and camaraderie in the black community. We showcase and sell our SnSLivelife urban wear products at the shop and host events such as podcast interviews to discuss important topics that benefit the community. The motivational clothing brand was initially curated in 2003 to promote the importance of taking struggles and creating a strong powerful life. The two businesses go hand in hand- creating a one stop shop to look and feel good.


An important factor to achieving all this, is having reliable internet. I switched over to Google Fiber four years ago, as soon service was available in my area- and I have been with them ever since. Prior to switching over to GFiber, I experienced issues with download speed and Wi-Fi latency with the internet service I previously had in the shop.

Now, with GFiber internet, booking appointments has been seamless. Customers can easily schedule their preferred time slots with no delay. Credit card transactions are processed swiftly, making the payment process smoother and more efficient. We often have several customers come in for appointments at the same time, and they can all enjoy uninterrupted streaming of their favorite shows or music on their devices or on our tv monitors during their appointments. 



Having reliable and fast internet has been a game-changer for us. The speed and reliability we’ve experienced have not only enhanced our operational efficiency but have also elevated the overall customer experience. Customers give us great reviews for having a premium grooming and shopping experience from start to finish, and our internet is an integral part of that experience.

So come on out and visit us anytime you are in the Atlanta metro area. In fact, if you bring this blog, you can get 10 percent off our products and services this month.

Posted by, Thomas Powell, Owner & Designer at Tru Skills Barber Shop/ SnS Live Life Clothing



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Google Fiber has deep roots in the Show Me State — we expanded across the border from Kansas City, Kansas, over a decade ago and currently serve many municipalities on both sides of the border. And we’re deepening our Missouri roots even further. Last night, the City of Jefferson City Council approved a right-of-way license agreement, allowing GFiber to begin construction of a fiber optic network in the city.

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Jeff City has been laser focused on giving their residents more choice when it comes to fast, reliable internet, and GFiber is very excited to be a part of their vision for a connected future.

The first step in this process is engineering and permitting, and we’ll be getting to work on both of these tasks immediately. We plan to begin construction later this year, with the intention of connecting our first customers in Missouri’s capital city in 2025. 


Jefferson City is GFiber’s first city in Central Missouri, and we plan to hire a small dedicated team to help serve our customers here. If you want to stay up to date on our progress and product availability, sign up here.

Posted by Rachel Merlo, Head of Government & Community Affairs, Central Region



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Access to high-speed internet is a necessity, yet not everyone has equal access to the digital world. This week, over 1300 energized and engaged practitioners, policy makers, academics and activists came together at the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA)’s annual Net Inclusion Conference in Philadelphia, PA. The conference brings together experts from the broadband and technology industry, along with national, state, and local digital equity leaders to share ideas, best practices and to champion the fight for digital inclusion. 

GFiber has been an active participant in this conference since early days. NDIA supports community programs and engages with policymakers on key issues around digital equity, which mirrors our efforts in each of the cities we serve.

GFiber’s Policy and Government and Community Affairs teams, represented by Ariane Schaffer (NY), Ryun Jackson (TN), John-Michael Cortez (TX), were on site in Philly, taking part in the broader conversation on the many issues that influence digital equity in our country. Additionally, Ariane shared her expertise on a panel centered around protecting broadband consumers with a strong focus on ensuring customers can understand what their internet service includes. It’s a top priority for us, which is why we launched Consumer Broadband Nutrition Labels even before the FCC’s deadline. 

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The growth in attendance of the conference was very visible this year. A diverse number of people were in-house from across all 50 states and several US territories. This diversity was also reflected in the jammed packed conference sessions, where various interesting discussions took place- such as one led by National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD ), which brought to the forefront the aspect of digital equity and inclusion and what that looks like for the developmental disabilities community.



But the most pressing topic of conversation in Philadelphia (and for those of us working towards digital equity across the country) is the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which is due to run out of funding in April this year.  

ACP is the largest internet affordability program in our nation’s history and is already helping over 23 million households across the country save up to $30 each per month on their monthly internet bills, and up to $75 for tribal households. It has been highly successful in helping families afford the internet they need to get and stay online, allowing them to connect to key opportunities in education, employment, healthcare and community empowerment. You can help protect this vital program. Email or call your representatives in Congress to ask them to please provide more funding for the ACP program by supporting the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act of 2024. You can visit USA.gov/elected-officials to find your representatives in Congress.

The Net Inclusion Conference underscored the importance of internet access, adoption, education and application; key elements of digital inclusion. Digital equity remains a persistent challenge, and it will take a cross-sector approach to solve it. We will continue to collaborate and build partnerships with the government and various organizations- supporting the work for digital equality and a better connected world.

Posted By, 
Ariane Schaffer, Public Policy & Government Affairs Manager
Ryun Jackson, Regional Government & Community Affairs Manager 
John-Michael Cortez, Regional Government & Community Affairs Manager



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Google Fiber is coming to Nevada! Earlier today, the Clark County Commission approved a franchise agreement with GFiber, which will allow us to bring fast, reliable internet to our first community in the Silver State.



With this announcement, we have active projects underway in all five of the states we set our sights on back in August 2022. Clark County covers much of the Las Vegas metro area, and is just the first of GFiber’s projects in the area. We’re already working on engineering planning in Clark County, and construction will get underway towards the end of this year with the goal of serving our first customers by mid-2025.

If you are in the Las Vegas metro area and want to keep up with what’s happening in Clark County and beyond, you can sign up here for updates on construction and service availability. We’re betting big in Nevada.

Posted by Ashley Church, West Region General Manager

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Google Fiber partners with organizations working to make digital equity a reality in the communities we serve. KC Digital Drive was mobilized to combat the digital divide for underserved residents in Kansas City. Brynna Darley of KC Digital Drive shares the organization’s work towards the region’s digital transformation with an emphasis on digital choice and dignity, as well as support broadband connectivity and digital inclusion.


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KC Digital Drive is an organization that focuses on civic engagement in digital inclusion and emerging technology. To do so, we offer several programs to help combat the digital divide in the bi-state Kansas City region. We leverage the talents and resources available to us in the surrounding community. Notably, the last two years of our collaboration with Google Fiber found us on the receiving end of 400 Chromecasts.



Wanting to make the best of this opportunity, Peter Smith, an AmeriCorps Vista member working with KC Digital Drive, got creative and developed a new educational workshop that illustrated the power of switching from cable TV to streaming services (like added flexibility and more money in your pocket each month). He developed a curriculum and connected with partner organizations to assess the demand for this new Cut the Cord (CTC) Workshop. 



Each one-hour session focuses on: 


  • Setting up and using Chromecast 

  • Navigating the streaming landscape of free and paid services 

  • Finding reliable home internet at speeds suitable for their streaming needs


Since introducing this curriculum in April of 2023, we’ve distributed more than 325 Chromecasts donated by GFiber, across 19 events with nine different partner organizations, including Phoenix Family, The Black Family Technology Awareness Association, and Jewish Family Services.


In October of last year, we integrated the workshops into our class schedule at the Digital Services and Support Center at the LAMP campus — a digital commons for training and support in Kansas City historic east side that serves low-income neighborhoods and residents.

One workshop attendee, Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Mesa, is a perfect example of how transformative one device can be. Mesa is 82 years old, living in Kansas City but originally from Wyoming. 


“Living on a fixed income, cable is a cost just like anything else, like a cellphone,” he said. He learned about our Cut the Cord workshops through outreach from our Digital Skills Trainer, Carol Meyers. 


Mesa shared that being a nerdy type of guy, access to streaming content and entertainment with his new Chromecast allows him to explore interests of history, nature, civilization, different animals and people, and the planet and science. 


We have been so pleased to see the demand for these workshops grow as our partners and community engage with options that boost equity and understanding of the technology and digital skills that fuel such a big part of daily life. We know that cable subscriptions can be expensive, and we are delighted to see these free devices help hundreds of households save money each month. 


To learn more about Cut the Cord workshop and the digital inclusion ecosystem in Kansas City, subscribe to our Kansas City Regional Digital Inclusion Newsletter and visit us online at kcdigitaldrive.org. 



Posted by Brynna Darley, State Digital Inclusion Coordinator








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