Welcome to the second full week of the Google Fiber rally! So far this week we’ve had some great conversations with Fiber-curious Kansas Citians at our Fiber Space and throughout the community at locations like the Plaza Library, Hyde Park, Kansas City Kansas Community College and Indian Springs Mall.
Like last week, there are a few common questions that are popping up frequently—so let’s take a moment to clear them up here on our blog:
1. When I tried to pre-register for Fiber, I had to submit my address for review. This was a few days ago and I haven’t heard back yet. What’s going on?
Don’t worry—we have your request and we’re getting to it. We want to make sure we’re thoroughly reviewing every address we receive. This process takes time, but we’re increasing the number of people on our team who are working on this, and we’ll get back to you shortly.
2. I live in an apartment building and I keep getting a pre-registration error. What should I do?
We’re sorry about the inconvenience. We know that we’re having a processing problem with some unit numbers in apartment buildings, but we’re working to fix it. Be sure to fill out our address review form and we’ll get back to you within a few days’ time.
3. I own and rent out property and I want to get Google Fiber. What should I do?
First, ask your tenants to pre-register for Google Fiber. Then, please visit this website and provide us with your contact information. If your fiberhood qualifies, we’ll be in touch with you to discuss the details about hooking up your building(s).
4. I completed my pre-registration without having to pay $10. Am I still pre-registered?
No. If you did not enter your credit, debit or prepaid debit card, you did not complete the pre-registration process yet. Please visit fiber.google.com and pre-register now.
Hopefully this helps. And, as always, if you have any other questions you can just give us a call, chat with us or email us and we'll help you out. Or come see us at the Fiber Space, 1814 Westport Road in Kansas City, MO.
Posted by Rachel Hack, Community Manager, Google Fiber

We’ve been so excited about the number of pre-registrations, visitors to our Fiber Space, and amount of feedback that we’ve seen over the first week of the Google Fiber rally. Your enthusiasm is contagious—and we’re going to help it spread.
Next week, we hope to welcome three more communities in Kansas into our Google Fiber service area. We’re happy to announce that we’ve reached a tentative agreement to bring Fiber to the cities of Westwood, Westwood Hills and Mission Woods, Kan. Pending approval from each of the three City Councils, we plan to include these communities in a future rally for Google Fiber (timing to be announced, so stay tuned).

To be clear, this does not change the construction schedule for eligible homes in Kansas City, Kan. and Central Kansas City, Mo. And homes in North and South Kansas City, Mo. will still be able to pre-register for Fiber in our second rally. Today we are simply adding three new Google Fiber communities for a future rally.
To our new communities, welcome! And to Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo., keep the pre-registration going. We can't wait to bring a gig to your fiberhoods soon.
Posted by Kevin Lo, General Manager, Google Access

It’s been five days since we kicked off the Google Fiber Rally in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri, and we’ve been blown away by the community’s reaction. So far, 40 fiberhoods have qualified for service, more than 2,000 people have visited our Fiber Space, we’ve talked to thousands of people via online and phone customer service, and we’ve distributed upwards of 2,000 ice cream sandwiches from our Fiber trucks.
Through our many conversations, we’ve noticed that some details about Google Fiber may still be a little unclear. So today we’re going to share and answer some of the top questions we’ve been getting about Google Fiber, so that we can keep everyone up-to-date in Kansas City.
1. When are you building to North and South Kansas City, Mo.?
Our first pre-registration phase includes homes in Kansas City, Kan. and homes in Central Kansas City, Mo. But we are definitely committed to serving homes in North and South Kansas City, Mo. in our second pre-registration phase. Residents should stay tuned to google.com/fiber and this blog for more information.
2. I have a business and I can’t pre-register. Why?
We’re focused on making residential connections right now, but we’ll have an announcement about a small business offering soon.
3. How did Google determine fiberhood pre-registration goals?
Like many of our projects at Google, we relied on data. All fiberhoods are different. They range in size and density as well as speed and ease of Fiber construction. For example, houses that are spread out (like in the suburbs) require more time, fiber and labor, and therefore are more difficult to connect than homes in a dense urban environment. So, in those fiberhoods that are more complicated to build, we want to make sure that enough residents will want Fiber service. We don’t want Fiber to be out of reach for anyone—it’s our hope that the pre-registration goals will be practical and attainable.
4. Help! I’m in a fiberhood but I keep getting a pre-registration error.
There are two possible issues here that we're working hard to fix. Some addresses (mostly apartments) with unit numbers are causing errors during pre-registration. Also, the "submit address review" form doesn't always work. In either case, please give us a call, chat with us or email us and we'll help you out.
5. What if I don’t have access to the Internet to learn about Fiber or pre-register?
We know that 25% of Kansas Citians don’t have access to broadband at home. So, to help spread the word about Google Fiber, we have a dedicated street team that visits fiberhoods throughout Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo. Our teams pass out flyers (and ice cream!), answer questions about Google Fiber and help pre-register anyone who is interested. Look out for our Google Fiber trucks in a fiberhood near you. We also have a local building, or Fiber Space, that Kansas Citians can visit. Google Fiber team members are there every day of the week to answer questions and help with pre-registration.

6. Why is the construction fee for the Free Internet service so expensive? What do I do if I can’t afford it?
As a Google Fiber customer, you will have a gigabit-ready Fiber cable routed to, and built directly into, your home. Studies show that simply having this connection will add value to your home and will put you on the cutting edge of broadband technology. We’re charging $300 for this construction.
To make the construction fee more manageable, subscribers can break it into payments of $25 per month during the first year, and free for at least the next six years. Over time, this Free Internet service is very affordable—it works out to an average of $3.57 per month over seven years’ time.
7. Why do I have to pay $10 just to pre-register?
Your $10 pre-registration fee will be applied to your Google Fiber service. If your fiberhood qualifies for service, your $10 will go directly to either your first month of service fees (for our Gigabit +TV or Gigabit Internet plans), or to your $300 construction fee (for the Free Internet plan). If your fiberhood does not qualify for service, your $10 will be refunded.
8. How did you choose which public buildings you would connect for free in each fiberhood?
When we announced that we’d bring Google Fiber to Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo. we also committed to building free, 1 Gigabit per second connections to the cities’ choice of public buildings. Both cities collaborated on a list of the public buildings that they wanted to connect, and then they gave the list to us. We will bring Fiber to these buildings that are located in qualified fiberhoods.
We’ll try and update this blog as we get more questions in. And in the meantime, if you have your own burning questions, there are a lot of resources you can turn to:
• Read our online FAQ, which has a lot of common questions and answers.
• Follow Google Fiber on Twitter to find out where our street teams will be visiting
• Chat live with a Fiber team member online
• Email Google Fiber support
• Call Google Fiber support
• Visit our Fiber Space and learn about Fiber in-person with our team members (RSVP if you want to avoid a long wait time)

We’re here to help, so get in touch!
Posted by Kevin Lo, General Manager, Google Access

Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog.
Our goal is to build products that will help improve our users’ lives. And when it comes to Internet access, it's clear what provides a better user experience:
Fast is better than slow. On the web, nobody wants to wait for a video to buffer or a website to load.
Abundance is better than scarcity. There’s a plethora of rich content available online—and it’s increasingly only available to people who have the speeds and means to access it.
Choice is better than no choice. Competition and choice help make products better for users.
With that in mind, we embarked on a journey to bring ultra-high speeds to Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo. And today, we’re excited to announce Google Fiber. Google Fiber is 100 times faster than today’s average broadband. No more buffering. No more loading. No more waiting. Gigabit speeds will get rid of these pesky, archaic problems and open up new opportunities for the web. Imagine: instantaneous sharing; truly global education; medical appointments with 3D imaging; even new industries that we haven’t even dreamed of, powered by a gig.
When we asked people what they value in their Internet service, the majority of them simply said, “choice.” So we listened. Kansas Citians will choose where we install and when. We’ve divided Kansas City into small communities we call “fiberhoods.” To get service, each fiberhood needs a critical mass of their residents to pre-register. The fiberhoods with the highest pre-registration percentage will get Google Fiber first. Households in Kansas City can pre-register for the next six weeks, and they can rally their neighbors to pre-register, too. Once the pre-registration period is over, residents of the qualified fiberhoods will be able to choose between three different packages (including TV).
It’s easy to forget how revolutionary high-speed Internet access was in the 1990s. Not only did broadband kill the screeching sound of dial-up, it also spurred innovation, helping to create amazing new services as well as new job opportunities for many thousands of Americans. But today the Internet is not as fast as it should be. While high speed technology exists, the average Internet speed in the U.S. is still only 5.8 megabits per second (Mbps)—slightly faster than the maximum speed available 16 years ago when residential broadband was first introduced. Access speeds have simply not kept pace with the phenomenal increases in computing power and storage capacity that’s spurred innovation over the last decade, and that’s a challenge we’re excited to work on.
To find out more about the different service packages and the pre-registration process see our Google Fiber Blog, which we’ll regularly update with new information over the coming weeks. This is an exciting new project for Google and we can’t wait to get homes connected to Google Fiber in Kansas City—because we’re pretty certain that what people do with a gig will be awesome.
Posted by Milo Medin, Vice President, Access Services

When we announced that we wanted to provide a community with Internet access more than 100 times faster than what most Americans enjoy today, we asked who was interested in working with us. More than 1,100 cities raised their hands, and those of you in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri won us over with your enthusiasm for better, faster web connections.
Today as we launch Google Fiber in Kansas City, we’re continuing with the same approach. Instead of us deciding where and when we install, we’re asking you.
Tell us if you want Google Fiber in two easy steps:
1. Pre-register: Starting today, if you live in an eligible Kansas City household, you can pre-register by visiting google.com/fiber. All you need to do for pre-registration is provide some basic information (like your name and address) and pay a $10 deposit.
2. Rally your neighbors: Over the next six weeks, get your neighbors and friends to pre-register too.
Here’s why: Google Fiber works better when communities are connected together. So we’ve divided Kansas City into small communities we call “fiberhoods.” We’ll install only where there’s enough interest, and we’ll install sooner in fiberhoods where there’s more interest. You can check out your fiberhood’s pre-registration goal, as well as a real-time status update of all Kansas City fiberhoods on our rankings page.
The rally lasts for six weeks and ends on September 9. When you participate, not only will you help bring Google Fiber to your home, you’ll also help bring it to your community—if your fiberhood reaches its pre-registration goal, we’ll also connect community buildings like schools, libraries and hospitals with free Gigabit Internet.
After the rally, we’ll let you know if your fiberhood has reached its goal. If so, you can sign up for your service package. The first homes will get service shortly after the rally ends, and all qualifying neighborhoods will receive service before the end of 2013.
In the meantime, you can come visit Kansas City’s Google Fiber Space, where you can experience a gigabit first-hand and check out TV in crystal clear high definition. The Fiber Space will be open daily starting this Saturday, July 28. We’ll also be holding events throughout the community during the rally. Stay tuned for more on the Google Fiber KC Blog.
And remember, if you want Google Fiber, you need to pre-register your home by September 9 and tell your neighbors to pre-register too. Let’s do this for Kansas City! Posted by Kevin Lo, General Manager, Google Access

For over a year we’ve been talking to a lot of people in Kansas City who’ve helped shape Google Fiber. It turns out you want speed, choice, great content and simplicity.
So we’ve put together three service packages that will be available if your fiberhood gets installed:
Gigabit + Google Fiber TV: What’s better than a gig of Internet? A gig plus TV, designed for how you watch today and how you’ll watch tomorrow. Google Fiber TV carries hundreds of channels (including your local favorites) and tens of thousands of shows on demand in crystal clear HD. With eight tuners and 2TB of DVR storage, you’ll never have to miss a show again. You’ll also get a brand new Nexus 7 tablet that you can use as your remote control. Gigabit + Google Fiber TV will cost $120 per month, and we’ll waive the $300 construction fee.
Gigabit Internet: With a gig, you can do everything you love on the web at speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans enjoy today. This package will include a gigabit-enabled network box with advanced WiFi and 1TB of cloud storage on Google Drive. Gigabit Internet will cost $70 per month, and we’ll waive the $300 construction fee.
Free Internet: We know that not everyone is ready to commit to a gig just yet. But we want to make sure you have the opportunity to upgrade when you’re ready. So if you pre-register and your fiberhood gets installed, you’ll have the option to get a 5 megabit per second (Mbps) connection for zero monthly charge, and your home will be wired and ready for the switch. The Free Internet option will cost $0 per month, although you will have to pay a $300 construction fee (which can either be paid at once, or in $25 monthly installments).
You can read more details about the different packages on the Google Fiber site and in the FAQ. Whether you want the full Google Fiber experience including TV, the simple excitement of a gig, or today’s speeds with tomorrow’s options—we’re excited to share the possibilities of a faster Internet.
Posted by Kevin Lo, General Manager, Google Access

In less than 24 hours, we'll make a special announcement about Google Fiber. Tune in on YouTube tomorrow at 11AM CDT to watch a livestream of the event. If you want to stay up-to-date on Fiber in Kansas City, you can also follow us on Google+ and on Twitter.
See you tomorrow.
Posted by Kevin Lo, General Access Manager

Kansas City: Google Fiber is almost here. Look out for more information on July 26th at google.com/fiber.
Posted by Kevin Lo, General Manager, Google Access

Google is all about building data-driven products. When users of Google Navigation wanted the ability to circumnavigate heavy traffic, we began to use real-time traffic data to suggest alternate routes. When Google engineers began to tackle the problem of automatic translation online, they relied on translation data from hundreds of thousands of websites in many languages.
Similarly, as we’re in the process of bringing Google Fiber to Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO, we need to first understand how many people here already have access to broadband, and more importantly, how many don’t. In order to get a grasp on the situation we partnered with a group that’s full of community experts—the Mayor’s Bistate Innovation Team (MBIT)—to commission a study on broadband adoption and digital literacy in Kansas City. Today, we’re gathering with MBIT at the Kansas City, MO Central Library to release and discuss the data that we’ve collected.
The good news is that a lot Kansas Citians seem to recognize the value of the web. Those surveyed said that the Internet can be helpful when it comes to job hunting, getting health information, and learning new things.

Unfortunately, our study also illustrates that there is a real digital divide in both Kansas Cities. We found that 17% of Kansas Citians are not going online at all, and 8% are only using dial-up or slow speed wireless connections.
These stats lead to a follow-up question: why are one-quarter of Kansas Citians not connected to the web at home? We found that one of the primary reasons is cost. 28% of those who don’t use said that they don’t go online because they don’t have a computer, or because Internet access is too expensive. Meanwhile, 41% of respondents said they don’t go online because they just don’t think it’s relevant to their lives.
This is a big deal. Using the Internet isn’t just about checking email and social networking. Access to broadband—and knowing how to use it—has become essential when it comes to jobs, education, business and much more. The web provides a wealth of information and services for Internet users, and people who aren’t online are, simply put, at a huge disadvantage. A job search, for example, is much harder today without the ability to review job listings and apply online. Similarly, computer skills and digital literacy have become perquisites for the majority of job opportunities.
From a policy standpoint, we can try and address these issues by encouraging policies that will make computers and Internet access more affordable, and promote digital literacy initiatives.
But a lot of outreach and education needs to take place on a community level. And that’s why this morning we’ve joined representatives from amazing local nonprofits, schools, libraries, city governments and other community experts in a discussion about how to take action and get Kansas Citians online using broadband Internet access. We’ll post the video of our discussion here as soon as it’s ready. In the meantime, you can peruse or download the full results of our study.
The Google Fiber project is about making the web better and faster—but it’s also about making the Internet more accessible for people throughout Kansas City. Digital inclusion here is a priority for Google, and it’s clear that it’s also a priority for community nonprofits and the local governments.
Update: We're also sharing our research on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood level. You can read or download the findings if you're interested!
Posted by Kenneth Carter, Policy Counsel

Yesterday the Mayors Bistate Innovation Team (MBIT) in Kansas City released the beta version of their Google Fiber Playbook, full of recommendations on how the citizens and government of Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO can effectively leverage our gigabit network. We’re happy to welcome Ray Daniels and Mike Burke, co-chairs of MBIT, as our first guest authors on the Google Fiber blog to elaborate on the Playbook’s recommendations. - Ed.
When Google chose Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO for their 1 gigabit fiber network, us Kansas Citians were pretty excited. We knew that Google Fiber held a lot of potential for our region to be at the forefront of developing new technologies and to grow as a tech hub...but we weren’t quite sure how to make that happen.
So in September of last year, Mayors Sly James and Joe Reardon from each city appointed a Mayors' Bistate Innovation Team (MBIT), charged with developing a Playbook of creative ways that the community can use Google Fiber to spark economic development, advance opportunities and improve daily life in Kansas City.
As co-chairs of MBIT, we had the amazing opportunity (along with the rest of our team) to meet with community members from many different sectors including neighborhoods, schools, libraries, hospitals, health providers, arts, businesses, and more to learn about what Fiber means to them, and what impact they imagine it might have. In addition to doing research for the Playbook, our team also investigated the broader issues of innovation and digital inclusion in Kansas City.
What we found was a community alive with dreams and visions for a better Kansas City, enriched by broad access to high-speed Internet connectivity and trained to take advantage of all it can offer. In fact, we got so much amazing feedback that we’ll be releasing several iterations of the Playbook, in order to collect and incorporate even more public feedback. We’ve opened an online forum where anyone can submit their ideas, and we invite you to contribute your thoughts.
But for now, our preliminary recommendations in the Playbook highlight the areas in our community where we think Google Fiber can make a real difference. Some of these recommendations include:
Education: Outfit a handful of classrooms for demonstration projects that fully integrate high-speed fiber technology into daily lessons, equipping our students with the most innovative educational resources.
Telehealth Pilots: Work with several hospitals and clinics to provide the technology to perform diagnostic services to people at home and at work, potentially increasing the quality of care for some patients while simultaneously reducing ER wait times and hospital readmissions.
Testbeds for entrepreneurs: Build a technology incubator that invites entrepreneurs to gather in a fiber-rich environment and work together to enhance their current businesses and develop new apps.
Global Roundtables: Conduct a series of global telepresence roundtables to establish Kansas City as an emerging global leader in the new digital economy and accelerate economic development and innovation.
Enhance Convention Center technology: Make our convention center one of the most tech-friendly gathering places in the country.
Develop a robust IT workforce: Work with and train Kansas Citians to become leading IT professionals throughout the US and the world.
We’re excited about the potential of these ideas—and the many more that we outline in our beta Playbook. But we’re also very aware that high-speed fiber cannot reach its full potential if large segments of our community are excluded from its benefits. Digital inclusion will be a huge pillar of our work on Google Fiber in the community. We hope to work with Google and other community organizations to make broadband access widely available in Kansas City, and to develop computer literacy training so that all Kansas Citians can have access to public services and social, financial, cultural, and informational resources.
To shepherd all of these elements from ideas to action, we’re recommending the creation of a new region-wide Digital Leadership Network. While many organizations will lead or partner on specific initiatives, we will look to the Digital Leadership Network as a new, united effort to ensure implementation of projects in the Playbook and to bring vision, strategy and coordination to the region’s broadband efforts over time.
High-speed fiber, by itself, is no guarantee of leadership in innovation or economic development. These opportunities will come only through work, initiative, and community support, hopefully guided by Playbook recommendations from MBIT and from the community.
Posted by Ray Daniels, Kansas MBIT Co-Chair and Mike Burke, Missouri MBIT Co-Chair