SALT LAKE CITY — Google Fiber announced Thursday that it is signing up customers in Salt Lake City's Jordan Meadows and Westpointe communities, inside an area bounded by 400 North and 1100 North and I-215 and Redwood Road.
Google says the service offers customers high-speed internet and TV service carried over fiber optic lines with download/upload speeds up to 1,000 Mbps or 1 gigabyte.
While the company is behind the installation schedule it first shared in 2015 when announcing its fiber optic service was coming to Salt Lake City, a Google representative said about half of the city, based on geography, now has access to its high-speed internet and TV offerings.
Google Fiber's community impact manager Jacob Brace said the initial optimism about how fast the city could be wired for fiber may have been about the elation of unveiling Salt Lake City as a new addition to the company's list of "Google Fiber Cities."
"I think the excitement got us looking much further ahead," Brace said.
He noted there are myriad challenges related to running new fiber-optic cable to every area of the city and, in some instances, overcoming those challenges has simply taken longer than expected. The company utilizes different cable installation methods depending on the area, with some of the lines strung overhead on existing utility poles and some going underground.
In addition to the newly opened area in Salt Lake City's northwest neighborhoods, residents in Sugar House, downtown, East Bench and some areas of Foothill have access to Google Fiber service. Which neighborhood is next and when the fiber installation will be complete citywide were both questions Brace declined to answer.
According to Google Fiber's Salt Lake City webpage, prices for fiber internet service range from $50-$70 a month, depending on service speed and $140-$160 for combined internet/TV packages, also based on service speed.
Google is just one of several companies that offer high-speed internet to Salt Lake City residents.
Google Fiber, owned by Alphabet under its Access division, significantly scaled back plans first announced in 2014 to bring its fiber service to 34 U.S. cities in nine metropolitan areas. The company has undergone two leadership changes in the last year, and recent CEO Gregory McCray stepped down in July after only five months in the position and has not yet been replaced. Alphabet CEO Larry Page told CNET in a July statement that, in spite of the executive changes, the parent company remained upbeat about Google Fiber's future.
"We are committed to the success of Google Fiber," Page said. "Fiber has a great team and I'm confident we will find an amazing person to lead this important business."