AUTHORS

Disruptomatic
Angela Natividad
Angela Natividad is a freelance copywriter, journalist and strategist based in Paris. She co-founded AdVerveBlog.com, a blog and podcast about ads and design, and writes MarketingProfs' “Get to the Point!: Social Media” newsletters. She likes people and animals, but not as much as books.
Tweet her @luckthelady.
James Martin
James Martin is the community manager of music & TV tradeshows midem & MIPTV/MIPCOM. He edits their respective industry news & trends blogs (blog.midem.com & mipblog.com) and also covers video games and technology for French cultural weekly A Nous Paris
Tweet him at @jamesmart_in
Stuart Dredge
Stuart Dredge is a freelance journalist based in the UK. He writes about digital music for Music Ally, and about apps and mobile for The Guardian, The Sunday Times and The Appside, as well as his own Apps Playground site.
Tweet him @stuartdredge

Hyperfast Google Fiber Makes First Foray into Kansas City (Both of Them!)

Wifi as present and free as oxygen? This may soon be a possibility.

Yesterday Google launched Fiber, a fiber optics network 100 times faster than the average broadband connection. It makes its debut appearance in Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas.

“Imagine: instantaneous sharing; truly global education; medical appointments with 3D imaging; even new industries that we haven’t even dreamed of, powered by a gig,” writes Google on its Fiber blog, which also details how Kansas City residents can access Fiber now.

The internet-only package costs $70 a month; internet + TV costs $120. “Free” internet service is also available for $25 a month for 12 months, with a $300 installation fee. And Google’s already inking strategic liaisons for its service with reasonably big perks for users: regular software updates for TV watchers (meaning TV may actually get as simple-to-navigate as the ‘net), and a free Nexus 7 tablet, which will serve as a remote for those with the TV package. 

The two Kansas Cities were divided into what Google calls “fiberhoods”. ‘Hoods where a majority of residents pre-register for service will be prioritised to receive it. Registration is taking place through the next six weeks.

“Access speeds have simply not kept pace with the phenomenal increases in computing power and storage capacity that’s spurred innovation over the last decade, and that’s a challenge we’re excited to work on,” writes Google, observing that the average US internet speed is 5.8 Mbps, just slightly higher than the speed first availed to residential broadband users 16 years ago.

The news comes as White House officials launch a public-private partnership, US Ignite, dedicated to constructing ultra high-speed broadband networks American communities, writes Mashable.

The service is also being positioned as a serious contender to cable + internet providers like Time Warner and Comcast, which charge significantly higher amounts for the same service with lesser speeds. One forum went so far as to proclaim the launch of Google Fiber with the heading, “Comcast has shat a brick.”