Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) provider Google Fiber has been approved to build an all-fiber network in Wheat Ridge, CO. This approval follows Google Fiber’s Lakewood and Westminster projects in Colorado that were announced within the past year.
The service provider has offered Google Fiber Webpass to apartments and condominiums in the Denver area at gigabit speeds since 2017.
Sasha Petrovic, Google Fiber’s general manager for the Southeast region announced the new project online. According to Petrovic, construction is expected to begin in 2024, with initial services following later in the year.
In February, Google Fiber announced that it would start work on the Westminster all-fiber network this year and also mentioned that it would be building a network in Chandler, AZ.
The Westminster project relies on microtrenching, which is considered a less expensive, less disruptive approach than traditional buried fiber because the need to dig up streets is reduced. The company tried the approach several years ago but ran into technical difficulties. Those issues, according to the company, have since been addressed.
The activity in Colorado was forecast in August 2022, when CEO Dinni Jain said that Google Fiber was “talking to city leaders” there and in Nebraska, Nevada and Idaho.
Google Fiber has been deploying 5 Gbps service in some of its markets.
For example, the company said earlier this year that it would introduce symmetrical 5 Gbps service in Kansas City, West Des Moines in Iowa and the Salt Lake City area. The company said that the offer would include a Wi-Fi 6 router, one or two mesh extenders and professional installation. The bundle is priced at $125 per month. Wi-Fi 6, also known as 802.11ax, allows many devices to be connected to a single router, allowing larger amounts of data transfer.
Several other 5 Gbps markets have been announced since then.
