Google Fiber moving into a city forces ISPs to play catch-up, and this data proves it

Key Takeaways

• Google Fiber, which launched in 2011 in Kansas City, offers internet plans with speeds up to 8 gigabits per second in 19 states and 43 US cities.
• A new report suggests Google Fiber entering a market increases overall internet speeds for all providers in that area, pushing competitors to improve their services.
• The report also shows that switching to Google Fiber can lead to significant increases in download and upload speeds, as well as decreased gaming latency.

Google Fiber, also known as GFiber, burst onto the scene with concepts of one gigabit per second plans in 2010. In 2011, the Google-owned internet provider launched its ambitious endeavor in Kansas City, followed by Austin, Texas and Provo, Utah in 2013.

Fast-forward to today, the service is available in 19 states and 43 cities in the US, offering fast 1, 2, 5, and 8 gigabits per second plans, and it is reportedly forcing other providers to up their game.

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Speeds up to 8Gbps

A new report by speedtest.net operator Ookla suggests that the arrival of GFiber in new cities has spurred competition, with competitors having to "raise their own standards" to keep up with speeds of up to 8 gigabits per second.

"When we enter a market we see speeds go up and prices come down, and not just for our customers," wrote Melani Griffith, Chief Growth Officer at GFiber in a separate post, adding that the operator makes good use of speedtest.net to assess the real-world performance, helping it evaluate its own performance and identify areas of improvement.

Faster speeds for everyone

Source: Ookla

In a case study shared by Ookla, titled "Impact of [GFiber's] Entry on New Markets," the speedtest.net operator highlighted the example of GFiber entering Mesa, Arizona in March 2023. As seen in the graph above, which highlights the median download speeds for all providers combined in the city, GFiber's entry marks a sharp up and to the right trend with a dramatic increase in overall internet speeds. This not only benefits new GFiber customers in Mesa, but customers of most other providers in the city, who are forced to keep up with the competition or risk losing their customers.

Similarly, a second case study, titled "Elevating Speeds in Existing Markets," highlights the example of GFiber's performance in Salt Lake City. The provider entered the market back in 2016, and continues to monitor its network performance via tools like speedtest.net to make necessary network optimizations, resulting in new and existing users benefiting from ever-improving performance.

Source: Ookla

Data suggests that switching to GFiber from a top competitor in Salt Lake City resulted in a 38 percent increase in download speed, a whopping 1,200 percent increase in upload speed, and about 26 percent decrease in gaming latency. The data quoted was gathered in the first half of 2024.

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Upload speeds don't have to be slow

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