Google axes free Fiber option in Kansas City
Google's fiber-optic broadband service, Google Fiber, has grabbed headlines for offering gigabit Internet for as low as $70 per month, but it also has a 5Mbit/s, free option for users willing to pay for the installation fee.
Recently, however, Google removed that option from the table in Kansas City, the first city where Fiber became available in 2011, replacing it with a $50 per month, 100 Mbps option.
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The situation is the same in Atlanta, where Fiber is scheduled to arrive next, but the option is still available in the other two Fiber locations: Austin and Provo, Texas. Pricing has not yet been announced for other future Fiber locations.
According to Re/code, which noticed the change Saturday, Google confirmed the price change, but declined to comment further.
The company will honor existing agreements with customers using the free option, who were promised seven years of the service when they signed up, Ars Technica has learned. And Google will continue to offer the free Internet access for some low-income households.
With 5 Mbit/s download and 1 Mbit/s upload speeds, Google Fiber's free (once you pay the $300 installation fee) Internet option is orders of magnitude slower than the other plans, but it was still a great deal for many users because it was, well, free. The decision to remove it might mean that Fiber is becoming less of an experimental Google project and more of a traditional, broadband cable company.
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Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.
