Sebastopol, California to get a 1Gbps Internet connection at $70 a month

(PhysOrg.com) -- The people of Sebastopol, California are in for a treat. Thanks to a collaboration between search giant Google and Sonic.net they will have the honor of being the first residential area in the United States that will have a 1Gbps Internet connection available. This is only the second location to get the benefit of a connection of this speed. The first US trials were done at Stanford University, where 850 faculty and staff homes on campus were enabled with the connection at a speed that would have seemed like a pipe dream even five years ago.

This deployment will be available to 700 homes in the area for a cost of roughly $70 a month. This system includes not only the Internet service but also offers two phone lines with unlimited long distance calling. A slower plan will offer users a 100Mbps connection and one phone line with unlimited long distance calling for a rate of roughly $40 each month. This makes the rates comparable to make services currently in existence in many residential areas of the United States.

The deployment will roll out in stages, with 60 homes being hooked up in the next month and the rest connected by the end of the year. If all goes well similar rollouts will be done in other California cities such as Santa Rosa or San Francisco. The next city slated with a definite 1Gbps fiber network to be installed is Kansas City, which sent a proposal as part of its Fiber for Communities Project. Their network is expected to begin operations at some point in 2012.

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