Google is slowly but surely pursuing its quest to become a fiber-based ISP, which tends to upset the typical telecom giants entrenched in a particular municipality once they get word that Google is coming to town.
In Kansas City, one of the few locations where Google Fiber is available, the tech giant is now offering up a second type of service: Google Fiber for Business.
The move marks Google’s first foray into commercial fiber offerings, and it’s only available in select parts of Kansas City so far, as illustrated on Google’s official coverage map.
“Whether a business uses their connection to move to the cloud, get closer to customers on Hangouts, or bring more transactions online, we’re excited to see what happens when Kansas City businesses say farewell to slow speeds and hello to all the tools and technologies that they need to grow,” Google’s official blog post says.
The service costs a mere $100 per month for the same Fiber speeds that home users enjoy. There’s also no construction fee as part of Google’s early access program for Google Fiber for Small Business.
It remains to be seen if the fee, or Google’s pricing, will change at some point in the future. The company’s indication that the monthly charge is guaranteed for a year seems to give Google a bit of leeway on that front.
“Though not all areas of central Kansas City are open for signups just yet, we’ll keep you posted as we expand,” Google says. “Small businesses can visit our website to get more details, register for email updates, and be the first to know when they can sign up.”
Up until now, Google’s fiber-based Internet service has been available to regular consumers only. Of course, the gigabit upload and download speeds promised by Google Fiber only really matter in the three cities that currently have the service.
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see where both Google Fiber, and Fiber for Business expand to next.
