The city of Huntsville, Ala. Is joining the exclusive club of cities with Google’s Fiber Internet network, its mayor announced on Monday.
Starting in mid-2017, Google (GOOGL) Fiber will begin to provide an Internet connection of a speed of 1 gigabit per second to homes and small and medium businesses in Huntsville and it’s expected to be available citywide in four years, according to Al.com. Huntsville officials first got in touch with Google last year to start the process of bringing its fiber optic cable network to the city, according to the mayor’s office.
Launched in 2012, Google Fiber is already available in Kansas City, Mo., Provo, Utah, Austin, Texas, and Atlanta, Ga. It also has plans to expand to a handful of additional cities including San Antonio, Texas, Nashville, Tenn., and Charlotte, N.C.
In Huntsville’s case, Google is partnering with Huntsville Utilities, the city’s own utilities provider, which has already begun to invest in fiber optic infrastructure. As part of the plan, Huntsville Utilities will own the fiber network and will lease it to Google Fiber, which will also handle hooking up customers to the power line and providing them the actual Internet service. Huntsville Utilities is expected to spend between $55 million and $60 million on the project, but expect to recoup the costs from leasing it to Google and others, according to Al.com
Though no prices specific to Huntsville are available yet, Google Fiber provides gigabit Internet for $70 per month, and Internet and cable service for $130 per month in its other cities.
An earlier version misstated that Google Fiber is available in Charlotte, Va. Instead of Charlotte, N.C. The story has been corrected.