Google Inc. (GOOG, Financial) is known for providing excellent services to its customers. From search engines to custom apps and business solutions, or the hardware that it is now designing, Google has maintained its mission of offering nothing but the best to the clients. Back in 2012, Google once again dazzled the world with yet another product - 'The Google fiber'. Though it didn’t manage to attract many customers at first, several improvements have been done to the fiber lately which have made industry analysts take note about this fast growing cable network.
Google Fiber usage benefits
Google fiber provides the fastest internet and television services to its customers. Right now, Google fiber has reached almost around 3,000 cities in the U.S. With 27,000 video subscribers, Kansas City got the honor of receiving the first ever Google fiber service. This service was further extended to Utah, California and Palo Alto. At first, due to slow customer rate, no one paid much heed to this product but now just in one year the rate has doubled which has startled fiber companies. According to the analysts, the growth of Google fiber has been slow, but it is spreading fast since Google is charging around $70 for its broadband internet service of 1 gigabyte (GB), which is quite lower than normally expected. Also, the speed being offered is enormous - almost 100 times faster than any national internet service provider. As far as television services are concerned, more than 150 channels are being shown. The one time installation fee is about $300 along with $120 dollars for both internet and TV package combined. For the next seven years no additional internet charges would be added to the user's bill. Google fiber has managed to garner 11% share of the television market of Kansas, which is a remarkable accomplishment in such a short time span.
Google Fiber competing with rivals
Time Warner (TWX, Financial) requires no introduction. Being in the business of fiber optic service for more than a decade, it has made a strong reputation in the market. Till last year, Time Warner had almost 193,208 video subscribers, and now it is getting acquired by a competing rival - Comcast Corporation (CMCSA, Financial).
AT&T (T, Financial) is yet another company making its way into the broadband internet and television provider service very quickly. Throughout the U.S., AT&T has managed to get 5.9 million clients - higher than any other company providing services in the niche. The “Giga Power” is offering tough competition to all the other companies. AT&T is also trying to expand through Verizon communications (VZ, Financial) – a brand new partnership in this niche. This will bring about 22 million dollars to the firm, strengthening its position in the market. Verizon is no less than any of the other companies, as it already has around 5.6 million subscribers of television to its name.
Concluding thoughts
Although companies like Time Warner, AT&T and Comcast Corporation are big enough and have a massive subscriber base, Google is competing with them by offering high quality of service. Recent increase in the number of customers opting for Google Fiber has rung a warning bell for competitors. Better deals offering fastest internet service and top quality video streaming options need to be provided by these rivals to stay in competition.
