Thank you, West Des Moines!

Google Fiber’s mission is to help all communities — big, small, urban, rural, and everywhere in between — get access to internet that’s fast, reliable, fairly priced and open. Today, we’re taking the next step on our journey, working with the city of West Des Moines, Iowa, to bring gigabit internet to their residents and businesses.

West Des Moines is a city with a long-term technology vision. In 2016, it established a Strategic Plan,  laying out a future where everyone in the City has access to fast and affordable internet. Tonight, the City Council approved a measure for the city to build an open conduit network to help realize this goal. Google Fiber is excited to be the first tenant — and first city-wide internet service provider — on that network, to help serve homes and businesses in the City with gigabit internet, and to foster new competition in the market. West Des Moines residents who are interested in learning more can sign up on our website for updates on the project and service availability.

Tonight’s announcement not only marks an exciting step forward for the people of West Des Moines and Google Fiber, but it demonstrates the innovative power of public and private sector collaboration, showcasing what each party — a city and a company — does best.

Municipalities like West Des Moines excel at building and maintaining infrastructure. At digging and laying pipes under the roads, restoring and preserving the sidewalks and green spaces, reducing traffic congestion, and lowering construction disruption. And for our part, Google Fiber is proud to be an internet company that specializes in providing a fast, reliable internet connection — along with the customer experience we’re known for.

This isn’t the first time Google Fiber has collaborated with a city to create a fiber optic network. In Huntsville, Alabama, we lease fiber from Huntsville Utilities to provide high speed internet service across that city.

Whether in Huntsville, in West Des Moines, or anywhere else, our goal is to work with communities to find the right model that brings world-class internet to more people and businesses, and that increases competition. We will continue to explore partnerships with other forward-thinking cities, utilities, and enterprises. After all, there is still so much more to do to make internet service faster and more affordable and enable everyone to get the great internet they deserve.

Tonight is a big next step on that journey. West Des Moines marks our first new market in more than four years. During that time, we’ve been focused on improving our customer experience around speed, reliability, and service. Google Fiber has learned a lot in our first 10 years — we've made some good decisions, and we've made some mistakes. Yet, our commitment to provide high-speed, reliable internet while finding sustainable ways to build and deliver service and move the industry toward meaningful change has never wavered.

As we’ve worked on these challenges, it’s become clear that communities should have more choice about how they get broadband — and from whom. Whether it's provided by the private sector, the public sector, or through a combination of the two, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to delivering the connectivity that people so desperately need.

As the last few months have demonstrated, access to fast and reliable internet is fundamental to life in the 21st century — no less necessary than water and electricity. Whether learning or working from home, whether shopping or gaming or watching streamed video, whether reaping the benefits of telehealth or connecting to family and friends via video, everyone should have access to open, reliable, and fairly-priced internet.

When it comes to the internet, people in this country have been underserved for far too long. Cities and companies can work together to change that — and that’s our goal. And we’re excited to take the next step forward in Iowa.

Posted by David Finn, Director of Corporate Development