Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has yet again delayed the roll out of its 1 Gbps Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) network, missing its previously set end of June launch date.
Amid a wave of hype, Google promised over a year ago that consumers and businesses in Kansas City, Kan., could sign onto the service by the end of 2011 and begin using it by Easter of this year.
In February, it began laying fiber in the city after resolving a dispute with Kansas City Board of Public Utilities, the owner of the utility poles, over where exactly it would place its fiber cables along existing utility and telecom rights of way (ROW).
"We'll have an announcement about Google Fiber this summer," a company spokeswoman told the Kansas City Star, but would not provide any other details.
Ray Daniels, a former Kansas City, Kan., school superintendent and the chairman of a two-city committee studying ways to leverage the coming Google network for better schools, business and arts, said that the lack of clarity about their plans and the various delays illustrates that "a lot of the buzz has been lost."
Besides the FTTP roll out timeline, it has yet to reveal pricing other than to say it would be competitive with what is available from traditional cable operators and telcos.
It has also been continually hinting that it could offer its own video service.
In March, it announced that it got approval from the Missouri Public Service Commission that would allow it to offer video services over the 1 Gbps Fiber to the Home (FTTH) network it's building in Kansas City, Mo. Then, in April a report emerged that the service provider was mulling a $300 million expansion of its data center operation in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
However, some analysts say they believe that the delays could signify that the Internet giant wants to ensure that it can deliver a decent service.
"If this helps them provide a better product and a better first impression, that's a positive," said Josh Olson, a tech industry analyst at Edward Jones & Co.
For more:
- The Kansas City Star has this article
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