Google Fiber drops its cheaper 100Mbps internet plan, goes 'all in' on $70 gigabit subscription

Polycount

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What just happened? Google's affordable, high-speed Fiber internet service has been around for some time, but only in select areas. As it continues to expand -- very slowly -- to more cities and regions, Google is looking to streamline its operations by eliminating one of its only two Fiber plans.

The plan on the chopping block is Fiber's $50/month, 100Mbps subscription, which has always been a slightly cheaper alternative to the full, 1,000Mbps Gigabit plan. However, given the small price difference here -- the Gigabit plan is only $20 more at $70/month -- it's not hard to see why Google is choosing to phase it out.

Even if the relative price difference is ignored, and each plan is evaluated strictly on its merits, it is difficult to argue that $70 a month for blazingly-fast download and streaming speeds isn't a fantastic deal. Other network providers like Verizon and AT&T are attempting to get in on the affordable gigabit trend, but Fiber has proven to be one of the more trustworthy options on the market.

In its seven-year lifespan, Fiber has never seen a single price increase. Further, its straightforward, month-to-month (cancel any time) payment model has always been more attractive than what many competing services offer.

However, if you're a Fiber fan who simply cannot afford that extra $20, you're not completely out of luck. In the official announcement revealing this decision, Google states that it will no longer be offering the 100Mbps plan to "new customers." This seems to imply that existing customers can continue to take advantage of the plan for the foreseeable future.

Still, because the wording is a bit vague, we've reached out to Google for clarification, and we'll update this article if we get a response.

Update: New reports claim that current 100Mbps plan subscribers will be given the opportunity to subscribe to a new 500Mbps plan for an extra $5 a month, bringing the total monthly bill up to $55.

If Fiber sounds like the internet plan for you, feel free to visit its official website to check if your location is supported. Currently, the service is available in 18 US cities, including the likes of Austin, Kansas City, and Chicago. We should note that even in Fiber-connected cities, not every area will have access.

In my own city of San Antonio, for example, Fiber has technically been available for about two years, but it's never rolled out to my specific neighborhood (no matter how many obsessive emails I send Google's way).

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I thought these mutts at Google were going to "save us" from the "high prices" of the "big telecoms". No?

I'm pretty sure I'll continue to allow myself to "be ripped off by Verizon", for the foreseeable future, since they've been cheaper than all other services, for the past 20 years.
 
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What kind of service / speed are you getting? Spectrum currently has us at 200 Mbs for $57 a month but CEMC is putting in fiber 1Mb that will soon be here for just about the same price ..... Google was being installed in Nashville but that came to a halt when the city fathers refused to make all the Telco's play nice .....
 
What's wrong with US prices? Here in Bulgaria they charge us 25$ for 200mb internet along with 220 TV channels including HBO's, HBO GO, Cinemax 70 other HD programs and couple of 4k ones.
 
...[ ]....What kind of service / speed are you getting?...[ ].....
If you're asking me, first off, I have "senior citizens", "I don't call anybody, and nobody of any worth calls me", stripped down to bare bones, land line phone. (Fiber nonetheless).

For internet, I think I'm at 100 Mbs, their current lowest tier. Which in reality, is more than fast enough for my purposes. Since I'm a "20 year veteran" of Verizon services, they treat me quite well. Bottom line, either 35 or 40 bucks a month.

Hey, any speed with which I can do parallel "erotic art" downloads, is fine with me.

I had "1Mbs DSL @ $18.00 mo. "for life", but they disabled the copper lines when they installed the fiber.
 
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What's wrong with US prices? Here in Bulgaria they charge us 25$ for 200mb internet along with 220 TV channels including HBO's, HBO GO, Cinemax 70 other HD programs and couple of 4k ones.
We have another member from Romania who tells a very similar story.

Either our dollar isn't worth as much as we think it is, or we're getting screwed by our ISP. Which is the more likely scenario, since Comcast (at least at one time), was the most hated company in America.

There is a symphonic metal band from Bulgaria which I kind of enjoy, "Metalwings".... (Although I do think they went a bit over the top with their medieval / Gothic garb in the following video)..

 
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What's wrong with US prices? Here in Bulgaria they charge us 25$ for 200mb internet along with 220 TV channels including HBO's, HBO GO, Cinemax 70 other HD programs and couple of 4k ones.
dude, a simple doctor visit can be a financial dagger to the heart in this country, you think they'll go easy on internet pricing? no chance.
 
We have another member from Romania who tells a very similar story.
In Hungary, some areas are offering for about 15-25 USD (exchanged from HUF a today's rate) for like 200+ channels, 1Gbps broadband and landline (with unlimited calls to landline and to selected mobile carriers), but the 1Gbps broadband (broadband only package) can be as cheap as 10 USD/month in where available.
 
This information is not fully accurate. See below.

I don't even use the 100mb plan I have now to its limit. I don't need any faster. Even the largest games I have download in maybe 10-20 minutes.

The sad part? Nearly all websites don't even have the bandwidth to give 100mb download speeds. The false advertising of your internet being "faster" is a cash grab. What makes a difference is how "quick" it is - ping times. This is what gamers can benefit from. You can have 10,000mb speed, but if your ping is 500ms, it's going to be unbearable!

Here is an email I got from them on 10/4:

Your Internet plan is changing.
Hi there,

At Google Fiber, we're committed to providing you with fast and reliable Internet at a fair price.

With increasingly connected homes and ever-improving technologies, speed is more important today than at any time in our history. We're continually evaluating our service to make sure we're bringing you the best experience and speed possible—so we’re making some changes.

We’ve discontinued Fiber 100, your current Internet plan. Beginning in February, we’ll increase your upload and download speed from up to 100 megabits per second to up to 500 megabits per second. This new speed is only available to our current Fiber 100 customers.

That’s five times the speed—which means you'll be able to download an HD TV show in seconds instead of minutes, have more connected devices than before, and an even better streaming experience. The price of your bill will increase by $5/month beginning in February. These updates will kick in automatically.

We know you have many choices when it comes to Internet service providers, and we're grateful that you’ve chosen to be a Google Fiber customer. To learn more about these changes, please see our blog post and frequently asked questions for more information.

Thank you,
The Google Fiber team

""have more connected devices than before"

This is false advertising! How does more bandwidth allow you to connect more devices??? LOL. That ticks me off.
 
What's wrong with US prices?

There's no genuine competition. For all of American conservatives' talk of "free markets" we don't have them in a good chunk of our major industries. In internet/telecoms, many cities and zones gives companies like Verizon and Comcast monopolies (effectively socialism for that corporation) in exchange for the understanding that these companies will "maintain" the lines.
Unfortunately, history has shown that they don't maintain or upgrade frequently, and since they have no competition, American internet pricing is insane. I pay $75 month for 100 Mbps internet, but I have no other options to switch to.
 
I don't blame them... they're trying to roll out fiber across the US and it ain't cheap. Once it's in place, I would expect there to be "better" plans but right now, they have to get their infrastructure in place. It's still cheaper and better than Comcast, which is fine by me. Just need it to make it's way to me!
 
The word "neighborhood" might matter. When you live in a solely standing house, the price you pay differs from one in towers. It may come cheaper in big cities, I guess.
 
This information is not fully accurate. See below.

I don't even use the 100mb plan I have now to its limit. I don't need any faster. Even the largest games I have download in maybe 10-20 minutes.

The sad part? Nearly all websites don't even have the bandwidth to give 100mb download speeds. The false advertising of your internet being "faster" is a cash grab. What makes a difference is how "quick" it is - ping times. This is what gamers can benefit from. You can have 10,000mb speed, but if your ping is 500ms, it's going to be unbearable!

Here is an email I got from them on 10/4:

Your Internet plan is changing.
Hi there,

At Google Fiber, we're committed to providing you with fast and reliable Internet at a fair price.

With increasingly connected homes and ever-improving technologies, speed is more important today than at any time in our history. We're continually evaluating our service to make sure we're bringing you the best experience and speed possible—so we’re making some changes.

We’ve discontinued Fiber 100, your current Internet plan. Beginning in February, we’ll increase your upload and download speed from up to 100 megabits per second to up to 500 megabits per second. This new speed is only available to our current Fiber 100 customers.

That’s five times the speed—which means you'll be able to download an HD TV show in seconds instead of minutes, have more connected devices than before, and an even better streaming experience. The price of your bill will increase by $5/month beginning in February. These updates will kick in automatically.

We know you have many choices when it comes to Internet service providers, and we're grateful that you’ve chosen to be a Google Fiber customer. To learn more about these changes, please see our blog post and frequently asked questions for more information.

Thank you,
The Google Fiber team

""have more connected devices than before"

This is false advertising! How does more bandwidth allow you to connect more devices??? LOL. That ticks me off.
This is news to me. Their official announcement makes no mention of a 500Mbps alternate plan, for $55 or otherwise.

Can you private message me with a screenshot of the email you received?
 
Sylvester Stallone in one of the latest posts on his official Instagram account, the famous actor shared that “The irony is that we get Wi-Fi in Bulgaria, surrounded by wolves in the woods but we can’t get it in Santa Clarita…”
 
Is nice to download any game on Steam, Epic store, etc at high speeds. One key feature is that I can simply download a game and then delete it if I want, and then I don't feel the itch to play it (because is on the computer). I remember those gloomy days era of CD's and reading magazines which delivered demos and apps with each cd edition. There was a sense of value knowing you had only few options, and those being the fastest ones. Right now there so many demos and stuff on steam, unless you are scrolling there deliberately, there is no need. We got affordable high speed internet in Europe, but most of the Online Tv's (HBO for example) don't offer 4k content, and you tube is pretty fast anyway on the average speeds.

Shouldn't there be a need in America for high internet speeds with the commencement of 5G? Makes me wonder why there aren't so many companies battling each other to fill the needs of peoples.
 
...[ ]....Shouldn't there be a need in America for high internet speeds with the commencement of 5G? Makes me wonder why there aren't so many companies battling each other to fill the needs of people.
Because the ISPs have bought and paid for a government that, "won't let them"! :rolleyes:

However, with that being said the government did try to, (ostensibly), "open up opportunities" for smaller companies to compete, to the extent Verizon and Comcast were forced to allow these newcomers to have free and unfettered use of their existing infrastructure. However, all of these "upstarts and carpetbaggers", seem to have disappeared. (With this I'm recounting my experiences with telegraphy in the copper wire are. I honestly don't know who rents what from who these days).

The advertising budgets the two primary competing giants, (Verizon and Comcast), are truly massive.

In fact Comcast, DBA, "Xfinity", has developed a mail campaign which features plastic coated, (laminated) card stock, every bit the equal of yearly membership cards to various organizations

I would swear that these are designed to cripple or destroy your shredder, should you try to get rid of them in that manner. I have found them useful to keep, and use to scrape up excess litter which my cats have inadvertently kicked out of the pan while trying to bury their crap.

And don't even get me started about the 24/7/365 roadblocking OTA TV ad campaigns which both providers employ.
 
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