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Comment by dougmwne | Hacker News Reader

Why is Google still in this business?

To force the incumbents to do better.

Same reason they originally created Chrome - they needed a browser that was faster and enabled more complex web apps, and they were sicks of the offerings at the time, so they built their own.

But if it's available in such limited areas and they are aren't expanding it, is it really accomplishing that?

Absolutely. Google even announced Google Fiber was coming to some cities.... then the incumbents stepped up and offered affordable Fiber connections... then years later Google retracted the promise it was coming, and now will not offer fiber in those cities.

So basically they called their bluff, and that was enough.

> and they are aren't expanding it

They were adding a lot of fiber in Nashville last year. It feels like almost every street/alley got cut to lay it.

if you can force a telco to roll out stuff in one place, it's proof they can do it elsewhere.

I hope they stay in it because I love my 1 Gbps Google Fiber service. Install was great, it's super reliable (compared to Spectrum cable Internet), and the price is nice. I don't even own a computer or switch with network ports that can do > 1 Gbps, but 20 to the home is impressive.

It looks like it became a pet project. If they really took the goal of nudging the ISP industry towards better service through competition, they would care more about expanding their coverage.

I imagine it'd help them get more free peering agreements with the content providers they crawl.

What's the alternative? Wait for the segmented "market" to improve speeds without any real pressure?

In SF I have to chose between one ISP, or no ISP. It's ironic and pathetic.

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