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People need faster, more reliable internet, but they also need faster, reliable customer service. At Google Fiber, we see customer service as an integral part of what we offer when customers buy internet service from us. We listen to our customers and we respect your time — we know in a perfect world you’d never have to think about your internet, so we want to make sure that when you do have to reach out to us, the experience is as painless, and, perhaps even as pleasant, as possible.

Changing how customers engage with an internet company goes hand in hand with increasing speeds for us. From install appointments, rather than windows (with a 95% on time rate that we’re working to improve even more), to real people answering our phone lines to easy-to-understand bills, we’re focused on reducing friction for customers at every point in the process. Our agents pick up the phone fast (30 seconds or less is our goal — last week we were at  just over 10 seconds), with no scripts, rather than an endless stream of robots.  

Our automated processes also focus on making our customers’ lives easier. No one likes bills, but you should be able to understand what you are paying for with no mysterious fees or extra charges. And when things do go wrong, we try to help set it right, like by proactively crediting our customers if there’s an outage — you don’t even have to call to report it.

This was where we started, but we’re never satisfied with the status quo when it comes to our customers. We know we need to keep evolving and improving to ensure our customers always receive the best internet and customer service out there. We’re working to improve our customer experience on all fronts. When you need us, we’re making it easier for you to contact us; and when you’re comfortable troubleshooting for yourself, we’re making it easier for you to do it.

And we’re proud that our customers seem to appreciate these efforts. In 2020, our customers ranked us #1 in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) for internet providers in a number of categories, from Call Center Satisfaction to Ease of Understanding Billing, and also rated us tops in the PCMag Readers Choice Winner in 2020, stating “what Google Fiber offers is absolutely the very best an ISP can do.”

But we know we can do even better, so keep expecting more from us. The past few years have been a journey for Google Fiber. We’ve focused on what we are truly great at — providing great internet speeds at great prices while helping our customers find better TV options. We’re helping customers get started with video streaming services from multiple popular providers. And we’re launching in new cities in different ways.  But no matter what’s next for Google Fiber, our customers will be at the center of it.

Posted by Catherine Duncan, Head of Service as a Product

Many students have been navigating virtual learning since last spring. Google Fiber has partnered with organizations and school districts in our cities to help make it easier for students and their families to connect and continue their learning journeys, whatever form that may take. Today, we’re excited to share a guest post from Malena Juarez, a senior at Lincoln College Preparatory Academy in Kansas City, Missouri, who attends the Kansas City MLB Urban Youth Academy Virtual Learning Program. The Kansas City MLB Urban Youth Academy is one of our Google Fiber Community Connections, which provides gigabit internet to the organization at no cost.

When I first came to the Academy, I was amazed by the sight of the facility and the huge softball field and baseball fields. It was a dream come true. To me, the Urban Youth Academy is a place of opportunity and growth. It has now become my second home. The UYA will forever have impacted my life positively, giving me a place to grow as a softball player and as a person in my community. The wonderful people I’ve met there have always been such great role models, who only wanted to see me succeed. 

I started playing softball when I was 10 years old, but had no idea what softball really was. But, as the years went by, softball then became my life. Moving to Lincoln Prep, I found out there was no team. It was always hard not being able to play the sport you love going into high school. During my junior year, the UYA helped tremendously by allowing our softball team to use their field and equipment to practice and play our games. I was finally able to play the game I love at the place I love. It meant so much to me and was very influential to me; I wanted to give back to my community just as the UYA did. 

Being a senior during this very interesting year of 2020 has been very difficult for me. As the oldest of three kids at home trying to manage everything being virtual, I felt very overwhelmed from making sure lunch was made at a certain time and homework was being done, to answering what felt was a million questions about school from my sisters and brothers. I always believed my senior year was going to be very stress-free, but with our current situation, it has been the exact opposite. 

Just as I was feeling it was all too much, I received a text message explaining what seemed to be a cool program —  the Virtual Learning Program at the UYA. The program currently has 50 high school students enrolled from 17 different schools in the KC area. It runs Monday-Friday, usually from 7 am-4 pm which allows us to complete our schoolwork and participate in baseball and softball workouts each day. 

At first, I thought it probably wouldn’t work out for me to attend, because where would my younger siblings go? That’s when I had a conversation with the Director of the Virtual Learning Program explaining the circumstances. Thankfully, they worked with me, and now my younger brother attends the program as well. So now, there is no worry about missing school to make lunch, and I’m only answering one question here and there! The only focus I have is school, and it is easier to do the best that I can. 

Coming to the UYA for the Virtual Program, Google Fiber’s high speed internet has been a tremendous help to me and my siblings. We are now able to go throughout the day with no problems with our connection. We can now focus on our school work.. It means a lot and has taken a great deal of stress off our shoulders. 

I just wanted to say a great big thank you to the Urban Youth Academy, the Virtual Program, and Google Fiber for being a great help to me. It has made such a huge impact on me and others. You have made me feel important and valued, and I could not thank you enough. 

Posted by Malena Juarez, Senior at Lincoln College Preparatory Academy 

Back in August, Google Fiber announced our plan to test 2 Gig service in Huntsville and Nashville. Today, we’re excited to announce that 2 Gig is now widely available in those two cities.

New and existing Google Fiber customers in Huntsville and Nashville now have the choice between our proven 1 Gig for $70 a month — plenty of speed and capacity for everyone and their devices all at the same time — and our even faster 2 Gig for just $100 a month — ready for power users, the latest devices, and advanced smart homes that use lots of internet.

I’m especially excited to be able to share 2 Gig with our customers. Over the last few months, my family has been testing 2 Gig in our home. And what made 2 Gig right for us was how everything we could do with 1 Gig is now faster, wired and wireless, even when we’re doing a lot — which is pretty much all the time in our house. With 2 Gig, I’ve never worried about massive file downloads, even while I’m on a video call with my boss and my husband is on a Zoom call in the next room, and then, all of the sudden, our home music system asks for an update. I know we can easily handle it all at once.

My husband works in IT and he can set up new machines in minutes, with the progress bar on a new Mac saying, “this may take up to an hour” only to be wrapped up before he gets back from our kitchen with a cold soda. He’s saved the day with last minute file transfers that none of his coworkers could have done from home.

And it's not just for work. As an occasional gamer, I love that when I do get time to play, I’m not waiting for massive system updates to finish or worried about network lag, but just trying to hold my own competitively. Even my house gets in on 2 Gig. Our smart lights, Wi-Fi speakers, 4K TVs, sprinkler system, and Wi-Fi-connected pellet smoker are staying connected without competing with us or each other for bandwidth. And we’ve got the peace of mind that there won’t be any data caps to stop us from doing even more.

2 Gig comes with the Google Fiber Multi-Gig Router, which uses Wi-Fi 6, the latest Wi-Fi standard. While it’s true that right now, we only have a few devices that have Wi-Fi 6 capability, we’re making the most of the hefty Wi-Fi speed provided by the tri-band Mesh Extender. And we’re ready for whatever comes next. (Who knows? I think my dog might be jealous of the Wi-Fi feeder that spoils my daughter’s cat.)

1 Gig is great for my family, and 2 Gig just gives us more of what we love. So, whether your home needs 1 Gig fast for everyone or 2 Gig faster for a few more everyones, Google Fiber is happy to get the right internet for your household, at the right speed for you.

(And if you're not in Huntsville and Nashville, don't worry. You can still sign up to test 2 Gig and other products through our Trusted Tester program.)

Posted by Amanda Peterson, Product Marketing Manager

Charlotte-based muralist Rosalia Torres-Weiner believes art can sustain us during difficult times. As a self-titled “Artivist,”  Rosalia seeks to find creative ways to use art to bring people together, advance justice and equity, and inspire more good in the world.

In October, Rosalia created her response to COVID-19 called “Art Essentials,” which is part scavenger hunt, part public art project and part emergency relief. Rosalia created and hung 100 pieces of her original art in public places like bus stops, laundromats, apartment complexes throughout Charlotte’s Latinx neighborhoods. Folks who found the art discovered another surprise: a message on the back letting them know the painting also served as a voucher for a bag of essential items, including hand soap, hand sanitizer, face masks, and a $50 grocery card at local Compare Foods grocery store….and they get to keep the art!

After a few weeks, all of the art has been collected and 89 of the Art Essentials bags have been redeemed. The rest of the bags of supplies have been donated to the families at Charlotte Bilingual Preschool. Families who discovered the art were thrilled to get both an original painting and assistance with grocery basics at a time when inspiration and help are needed most.

Google Fiber is proud to support Art Essentials, along with a HUG micro-grant from Charlotte is Creative and support from Compare Foods. We continue to partner with local organizations focused on connecting our communities for good.

Posted by Jess George, Government & Community Affairs Manager, North Carolina

For a while now, we’ve been talking about the wonderful world of streaming. From live sports to obscure indie movies, there is a site and streaming service for everyone. Yes, even you!

At Google Fiber, we know that TV, both live and on demand, is going somewhere only the internet can go, so we’re focused on providing high speed internet that makes streaming easy and enjoyable. And all that choice usually comes with a lower price tag than traditional TV (including ours!). 

That’s why we continue to add streaming partners to make it even easier for Google Fiber customers to find your preferred TV content. Today, we’re excited to add SLING TV to that roster. The pioneer of live streaming TV, SLING TV has today’s most popular channels, available through a monthly subscription that starts at $30 per month, with the flexibility to personalize programming based on different genres.*

SLING TV joins YouTube TV, fuboTV, and Philo in offering Google Fiber customers the best of live and on demand streaming content, at the right price for them.

Frankly, it’s been clear for a while now that the best TV is already online. 27% of households have cut the cord completely opting for streaming only, and 78% have a streaming service of some type. We know that finding the shows you want to watch can be tough sometimes, given the many streaming options available. Use thestreamable.com to find your favorite team or your local news live or a show or movie you love, and to compare your different options for watching.

And if you are a Google Fiber TV customer looking for more, we know you deserve better TV, and we’re here to help you get the upgraded experience that’s tailored to your needs.

Posted by Liz Hsu, Director of Product Strategy

* Subject to change, under SLING TV's terms & conditions.

I’m excited to announce that this fall, the Austin based LGBTQIA+ focused non-profit OutYouth became the latest Google Fiber Community Connection in Austin. As a queer, trans Texan who has been involved with OutYouth since 2015, I’ve heard countless stories from friends who found support when they needed it most through their programs. Most recently, I’ve personally seen how OutYouth’s Queer and Trans Commmunity Closet has made it possible for friends impacted by COVID-19 to get items they need.

Google Fiber’s Community Connections program brings free high speed Internet to libraries, community centers and nonprofit organizations in our Fiber cities. OutYouth is the 34th Community Connection in Austin to receive this high speed service.

Since 1990, OutYouth has provided programs, services, and partnerships which provide LGBTQ+ youth and their allies with opportunities to develop positive self-esteem, identify and cultivate peer support networks, and prepare for a successful adulthood.

As a community connection recipient, OutYouth’s Austin location - affectionately known as the little blue bungalow - will receive gigabit speed internet at no cost to help serve their mission and meet the needs of their clients.

Check out the video of my chat with Kathryn Gonzales, director of OutYouth, to learn more about how they’re connecting with the community during social distancing and how they hope to use their new Google Fiber Community Connection in the future.

Learn more from OutYouth here and get information on how you can support their GLITZ: 30th Anniversary Virtual Celebration, premiering on YouTube on November 7.

Posted by Danny Cleveland, Customer Service Program Manager (Austin, TX) & Pride@Fiber ERG member

In July, we announced plans to be the inaugural tenant on West Des Moines’s conduit network, which will allow us to deliver gigabit internet citywide. Since then, both the City and Google Fiber have been working to make this network a reality to ensure that residents can work, learn, play, stream, and connect online at super fast speeds. 


On October 1, the City of West Des Moines kicked off its  “Plant the Speed” campaign, aimed at getting every address in the city ready for high speed internet, whether people choose Google Fiber or another provider. Residents can sign up at www.wiredWDM.org right now to enroll their address for connection to the conduit network. This is a necessary first step to getting fiber service at your home. The website also includes information about the build schedule and what people can expect through the city’s construction process.







At Google Fiber, we’re enjoying getting to know West Des Moines. We’re assembling our local team and looking for office space. If you want to keep up with Google Fiber in West Des Moines, join our email list to get the latest news on our products, service, and availability. If you’re a West Des Moines resident, make sure your home is ready for speed by enrolling with the city and joining our list, too — both Google Fiber and the City of West Des Moines are moving quickly to connect you.


Posted by Rachel Merlo, Government & Community Affairs Manager

In late August 2019, we began having conversations about forming a Latinx-centered Employee Resource Group (ERG) at Google Fiber. The United States had just witnessed a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, aimed directly at Hispanic Americans, and many of us wanted to create a safe space for employees to come together to discuss, reflect, and offer community to one another. 

Last year, Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month (September 15th - October 15th) presented an opportunity for our newly forming ERG to establish itself. We opened up a dialogue about immigration, the current state of the world, and the Latinx experience from the perspective of fellow Fiber Googlers with thoughtful programming and the occasional juntada (“get-together”). 

This year, the pandemic has made our work and community both closer and more crucial. So in May 2020, we officially — and virtually — introduced Gente as the ERG for Latinx employees and allies. With COVID-19 twice as deadly for Black and Latinx people, and in the wake of violence against Black and transgender communities, we’ve centered Gente’s efforts on not only the importance of coming together as a community, but in building strong intersectional alliances, too.

The word gente means “people," and also serves as a term for the deep-rooted connection that comes with community, family and a rich cultural history. Bringing this ERG to life within Google Fiber also means a new opportunity to give Latinx employees and allies a voice in critical business conversations around diversity, equity and inclusion — a voice that is representative of the diverse workforce and customers that make up our Google Fiber family. 

As a part of this year’s Latinx Heritage Month, we invited Dr. Gina Pérez, Cultural Anthropologist and Professor in the Department of Comparative American Studies at Oberlin College, to share her thoughts on the importance of this work. “To be Latinx is to be a part of a collective that has a history of resistance, resilience and a beautiful capacity to change,” she said. 

Gente and Google Fiber are celebrating that collective action, not just for this month, but every day. We look forward to seeing the growth that our group will encounter this year — and to the future opportunities we will have to serve our Latinx customers in all our cities.

Posted by Gabrielle Aguilar, Sales Training Specialist (Austin, TX) and Co-chair, Gente

This week is Digital Inclusion Week! While we celebrate the incredible efforts of our partners across the country to make their communities more digitally inclusive and connected every day, we’re also taking this opportunity to share the stories of the people they’ve helped during 2020, with all the challenges this year has presented.


From making music to helping people navigate the digital world, we’re grateful to all the people out there working to advance digital equity in their communities. Thank you and let’s keep it going, all 52 weeks of the year!






For more information about the partners highlighted in the video check out Music Empowerment, E2D, and PCs for People.

We believe in the power of great internet, but we also know that, for most of us, our internet is only as good as our Wi-Fi.


My husband and I both work from home, and I am … not quiet … when I talk on video calls. So, I’ve set up my laptop as far away from my husband’s desk as possible, which also means I’m four thick walls away from my router. That doesn’t make for great Wi-Fi. And I know I’m not alone. Wi-Fi issues are a common complaint for customers, regardless of their internet service provider.


No one wants to have to think about their internet. At Google Fiber, we want internet that just works for you anywhere in the home, and for most people that means Wi-Fi. So we’ve been working on improving your Wi-Fi experience, starting with giving you the opportunity to use whatever router you want.


Now, you can bring your favorite router with you when you sign up for 1 Gig or change your plan to 'Use your own router' in your Google Fiber account — if you’re the kind of internet user that’s comfortable setting up and troubleshooting your own equipment.


For customers who don’t want to take on that technical responsibility, we’re still here to help with your Wi-Fi (or anything else you may need from us). You can learn more about whole home Wi-Fi from Google Fiber here.


If you’re a Google Fiber customer and have an issue with your Google Fiber service, let us know. We always want you to be able to make the most of your internet, including your Wi-Fi. (Shout out to my customer service friends answering my Twitter DMs — you’re my real MVPs.) 


We’re always looking for ways to make Google Fiber better. Great internet = great Wi-Fi, so we’ll keep working to improve that experience for our customers, whether they’re right next to their router or four rooms away.



Posted by Amanda Peterson, Product Marketing Manager

When it comes to internet, fast is never fast enough. That’s especially true now when so many of our customers are learning, working and living nearly entirely online — all using different devices at the same time.

So we’re more than a little excited to announce 2 Gig today — bringing even more bandwidth and speed to customers in internet-intensive households who may need more than a gig to do their thing, whatever that may be.

Google Fiber launched in 2010, offering 1 Gig speeds. Back then, the average residential internet speed in the US was 7.12 Mbps down and 2.42 Mbps up (and that was a 16% improvement from the year before!).

Today, as we continue to grow in the 19 Google Fiber and Google Fiber Webpass cities across the U.S., we also continue to learn from our past and from our customers. We’ve innovated new build techniques, allowing us to build faster than ever before, and we’ve established Google Fiber as a leader in customer service.

And we’ve learned that many of us need more: more to help us work better, to help us learn smarter, to bring us gaming and entertainment in new ways, and to fuel innovation and entrepreneurship across our economy.

Why 2 Gig?

This year has made this need for more speed and bandwidth especially acute, as many of us are now living our entire lives — from work to school to play — within our homes, creating unprecedented demand for internet capacity.

2 Gig will answer that challenge. At $100 a month, it’s double the top download speed of our 1 Gig product (with the same great upload speed) and comes with a new Wi-Fi 6 router and mesh extender, so everyone gets a great online experience no matter where they are in the house.

Google Fiber networks are designed so there’s plenty of capacity to allow our customers, with the right in-home hardware, to reach 2 Gig (and even faster) speeds. Our approach to network design allows us to keep our customers connected to the fastest speeds available.

So... how can I get it?

We’re looking for people to help us test 2 Gig, starting in Nashville and Huntsville next month and in our other Google Fiber cities later this fall. Game changers, super users, and families who need more from their internet can join the Google Fiber Trusted Tester program to be among the first to put the extra speed to use. Our testers help us make sure we’re launching the best products and services possible for our customers, and we appreciate their help! Sign up here for an opportunity to be among the first to test 2 Gig in your city.

2 Gig will roll out to all of our Nashville and Huntsville customers later this year, with plans to launch the service across most of our Google Fiber and Google Fiber Webpass cities in early 2021.

Google Fiber brought you 1000 megabits in 2010, and we’re upping that 2000 megabits for 2020. This is just the start of many more product launches to come. Our goal is to keep delivering groundbreaking speeds at competitive prices with the customer service Google Fiber is known for.

Posted by Amalia O’Sullivan, Director of Product Management

This post is the third installment of our Pursuing Racial Justice and Equity series, which highlights the courageous and vital work happening across our Google Fiber and Google Fiber Webpass cities to fight systemic racism and create more just communities where everyone has the opportunity and the ability to thrive.

The Austin Justice Coalition’s (AJC) roots were planted in 2015 when a bunch of people who were crazy enough to believe that we could change the world got together and we have never looked back.

Black and brown people operate daily in a system where their voices and lives are undervalued. They are inundated with unwarranted and blatant oppression, life-threatening situations, microaggressions, and other forms of racism due to the color of their skin. AJC is a grassroots organization that addresses the oppressive dynamics of institutional racism and its effects on adults, youth, and communities of color.

We transform systems and society by building community power through policy and advocacy. Through our efforts, we have improved laws and policies where we live in regards to criminal justice and building complete communities to address the housing and homelessness crisis. Additionally, we have supported and guided young people of color to be thoughtful, unbiased leaders. We try not to do it all, but over the last 5 years, we have built an ever-evolving ecosystem of solutions, knowledge, experience, and community.

Unfortunately, there is still so much to be done.

It is not that our ideas are revolutionary. We lead the charge and keep others marching with us without allowing differences to divide us. In our work, you see a cadre of white allies. If we don’t change the hearts/minds of those whose ancestors implemented the hierarchy of race, we will never truly gain reform.

There is truly something for everyone to contribute to the movement.

Since March, there has been change in a real way, and we are thankful for the many partners who have increased their engagement in our communities such as Google Fiber. Because in reality, the biggest hurdle for communities of color is getting a seat at the table.

We have been able to create a seat by listening to the community and being unafraid to be their advocate. Similarly, we created Higher Learning, with little funding, because we had a vision of a program curated specifically for Black and Brown kids that tackles the inefficiencies of our school system. We have made it to year 3 of this program.

Our hope is that the data and statistics will change in the number of people of color in jail, their ability in housing ownership, and increase rates of education attainment and professional achievement, not only in Austin, but across the country. When we see this, we are able to turn our attention to changing and transforming more systems. Often our work can seem narrow, but for us, the work we are doing can truly shift and break up what seems like indestructible systems. Our work will and can have a ripple effect. Our long-term vision is to one day dream of taking our work on a global scale. But before we can do that, our team will have to uproot the deep seeded effects of the 1928 zoning laws and racism of Austin, while tackling Texas, and America.

So when we are truly successful here, there will be more work on the horizon for us. Join us.

Posted by Chas Moore, Executive Director, AJC

This post is a part of our Pursuing Racial Justice and Equity series, which highlights the courageous and vital work happening across our Google Fiber and Google Fiber Webpass cities to fight systemic racism and create more just communities where everyone has the opportunity and the ability to thrive.

United Way of the Greater Triangle (UWGT) has the bold mission to eradicate poverty and increase social mobility through the power of partnerships. With that mission, we serve a four county region in North Carolina in which more than 200,000 residents experience poverty every day.

For 133 years, United Ways across the country have served those crushed under the weight of impoverished environments. That service has looked, felt, and sounded like charity: direct social services in response to existing, immediate needs. Yet the issues have not gone away; they have gotten worse and that’s especially true for Black and brown communities.

The next 133 years demand more. In a time when everyone is making public statements about their stance on race in this country, we believe that “well done is better than well said.” United Way of the Greater Triangle is up to the challenge to act. We believe in:

• An orientation to justice where we look for solutions that attack the root causes and don’t just deal with the effects of poverty.



• A re-imagination of philanthropy where authentic partnerships with marginalized communities mean they retain the right to design the solutions for their lives rather than have approaches imposed on them.



• An acknowledgment that the burden of poverty does not rest on the shoulders of the impoverished but on the systems with which they interact and the people that hold those systems up.



• An anti-racism community.

The “what” won’t change. We have known the key levers of poverty for decades: early childhood care and education, literacy, high school graduation, career readiness, affordable housing, mental health, and food.



United Way of the Greater Triangle’s investment strategy honors the importance of these focus areas by dedicating two of the three core pillars of our work to supporting children and parents from Cradle to Career and acknowledging that safe and affordable housing, access to nutritious meals, and homes free of violence and substance abuse lead to Healthy Families.

The third leg of our community impact strategy, Equity In Leadership, promises to empower marginalized leaders, amplify the stories of community that celebrate strength and don’t exploit deficits, and prepare the entire community for the full inclusion and success of people of color and women. Shout out to Google Fiber for their support of our initial grant-making investment in this pillar: 10 To Watch.

The positioning of equity as a stand-alone pillar, in the center of our strategy, also means that equity sends tentacles into our Cradle to Career and Healthy Families strategy. That looks like:

• Pulling apart community level data connected to the key levers of poverty to focus our work on the parts of our community that are suffering the most.



• Critically analyzing our own funding portfolio and internal operations through an equity lens. Through that same framework, we’re building and implementing new policies, procedures, and grant-making processes.



• Asking our nonprofit partners equity-centered questions, not as a punitive measure, but as a way to determine how UWGT can leverage its assets to support and further the equity journey of our entire region.

Our equity lens tells us where disparities exist. Our anti-racism lens tells us why. With the recent launch of the Anti-Racism Community Fund (with support from partners like Google Fiber), United Way of the Greater Triangle continues its evolution into becoming the organization that our community needs now and in the future. We cannot live our mission and the Triangle cannot live into its desire to be anti-poverty without being an anti-racism community.

The Anti-Racism Community Fund will:

• Invest in the leadership development and ideas of local community leaders.



• Invest in scalable, anti-racism solutions aimed at systems perpetuating systemic racism.



• Invest in the training, education, and awareness building that increases the capacity of the entire community be anti-racist.

A fundraising campaign alone is not enough to achieve the long-term, sustainable results we need. United Way of the Greater Triangle is proud to join the existing anti-racism movement, providing visibility to our audience and access to our platforms, adding to a narrative campaign that engages the community in solution oriented conversations about race, changes interpersonal interactions and shifts decision making to support the inevitable success of the entire community.

No matter where you are when you read this, you have the opportunity to take your next step in this movement. “Google” anti-racism and learn about the movement. Identify the leaders in your area that are leading the movement. Ask your local United Way about how equity is shifting the way they show up in community. Boldly adjust your personal or organizational mission and focus to be who your community needs you to be.

Posted by Nick Allen, Chief Program Officer, United Way of the Greater Triangle

This post is a part of our Pursuing Racial Justice and Equity series, which we kicked off last week. This series highlights the courageous and vital work happening across our Google Fiber and Google Fiber Webpass cities to fight systemic racism and create more just communities where everyone has the opportunity and the ability to thrive. Our first post comes to us from Joi Imobhio, Political Director for the Workers Center for Racial Justice in Chicago.



At the Workers Center for Racial Justice (WCRJ) in Chicago, our work begins with organizing our community: majority-Black neighborhoods where residents experience ongoing racialized poverty, over-policing and criminalization. Under normal circumstances, we spend much of our time talking with constituents face-to-face about the challenges they are experiencing, and encouraging them to take action on those issues as part of WCRJ. 

COVID-19 has forced us to quickly adapt and find new ways to connect with our community. As the 2020 census and elections coincide with unprecedented public demand for racial justice, we can’t afford to slow down. The pandemic has only heightened our sense of urgency, as we insist upon action from elected officials to address the racial disparities exposed by the pandemic.

We feel fortunate to live in a time when so many effective technologies are available to us, allowing us to keep organizing while maintaining social distance. Black civic engagement is a key part of our work, and involves a year-round schedule of in-person trainings, educational sessions, town hall meetings, and door-to-door outreach. Thanks to the digital tools that we’ve been able to access — and the creativity of our members — WCRJ has continued these programs remotely since moving our work online in March. 

One of the tools that is empowering us in the COVID era is Outvote, a mobile app that allows us to reach a broad network of voters through friend-to-friend texting. Users who download the app can follow our policy and voter engagement campaigns, and receive notifications when we have new actions for them to take. This year we transformed our Forum for Safety and Liberation — usually held in August at a large venue — into a full Week of Action with daily assignments for our Outvote users. In just that week alone, our virtual allies sent 8,963 emails to elected officials, with over 100 new contacts participating. The impact was so great that we will likely add this approach in future years, whether or not COVID is a factor.

The power of digital organizing came into sharp focus in the run-up to Illinois’ March 2020 primary elections, which took place just days before the official shelter-in-place order. As residents came to understand the threat of the virus, many polling stations were closed due to shortages of volunteers. Confused residents were unsure of how to cast their ballots. As the city made arrangements for residents to vote at alternative locations, WCRJ was able to quickly disseminate this information to our constituents via Outvote and social media. 

Given the possibility of another wave of COVID-19 cases in the fall, we know that voters will likely experience new and unforeseen barriers to democracy this November. We are contingency planning for a variety of scenarios, and in all cases, we emphasize digital outreach as an effective means for helping constituents access the polls. We are excited to be expanding our work into the neighboring state of Wisconsin for the first time this year; and, with the help of these technologies, we plan to reach tens of thousands of Black voters there, in addition to over 150,000 people in Illinois.

From now until November, much of our work will be devoted to ensuring that voters understand the various options available to them this year, and that each person has created a plan for voting. However, we know that not everything will go according to plan. When unexpected barriers arise, tools like Outvote and social media platforms will allow us to rapidly provide the most up-to-date, accurate information to our contacts, helping us prevent the pandemic from disenfranchising Black voters. 

Posted by Joi Imobhio, Political Director, Workers Center for Racial Justice

Back in February, we announced that we were no longer offering a traditional TV product to new customers. As we said then, the best TV is already online, and we’ve seen many of our customers opt for one of our streaming service partners when they sign up for their internet service. In fact, more than 84% of our customers use some sort of streaming service. Whether you are part of the 16% who haven’t yet found the right way to watch or you’re a seasoned streaming pro, we’ve put together some info on our website to help make it easier for you to find the best content for you.



The past few months have made the choice and control that streaming provides even more critical. With live sports at a trickle and new movies coming out online instead of in the theater, knowing how to find the content you want when you want it is essential. And that time is going up: our network saw around a 35% increase in traffic overall as people began to work and learn and live at home full time, and we also saw an increase in streaming traffic, with people watching earlier in the day and for longer periods of time. And as always, gigabit internet makes it easy to put any — or many — streaming services to work.

We’re continuing to work to make it easier to find the TV and video content you want with more streaming choices available for our internet customers. We’re thrilled to welcome Philo as a new streaming partner. Philo offers over 60 channels of live and on-demand TV for just $20 a month, providing yet another affordable way to watch your favorite shows. Philo joins YouTube TV and fuboTV as one of our streaming offerings, and we’re working to make it even easier to get the streaming options our customers want.

2020 has been a year of transition. How we watch TV and what we need to do it well has changed, And fast, reliable internet makes it possible.

Posted by Liz Hsu, Director, Product Strategy

As students and their families across the U.S. begin a school year like no other, the contrast between the power of the internet and the depth of the digital divide has never been so pronounced.

A staggering 15 to 16 million students (30%) lack the internet or computer devices they need to access the education they deserve. 300,000 to 400,000 teachers (10%) can’t teach because they lack internet at home. Black, Latinx, and Indigenous/Native American households lack access at disproportionately higher rates, exacerbating long-standing inequities in education.

Google Fiber exists to help bring reliable internet to more people in communities across the country. Our team of Government and Community Affairs Managers exists to help advance digital access for the most underserved residents, who are disproportionately Black and Brown, in our communities. Since our earliest days, digital inclusion has been one of our central pillars, and we’ve now added a financial sponsorship program to support our partners doing racial justice work in Google Fiber and Google Fiber Webpass cities.

In our community partnerships, we think about all aspects of digital inclusion. For example, in our longtime partnership with the Housing Authority of the City of Austin (HACA), Google Fiber provides free in-home gigabit internet access to hundreds of public housing residents. Beyond that, and thanks to the leadership of HACA, the City of Austin, and Austin Community College, residents have access to digital literacy training, computer devices and tech support.

Across all of our Google Fiber cities, we have learned from challenges, invested in the digital equity ecosystem, and amplified the work of community organizations to help get our neighbors trained and connected. We are proud of this enduring work and the partnerships we have formed along the way.

But it isn’t enough. As we collectively face the intertwined impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and generations of systemic racism, we know we have much more to do.

The Black Lives Matter movement rightfully calls for more from companies that have the opportunity to change systems and influence their industries. Google made a commitment to improving racial equity both internally and externally. Google Fiber is aligning with that by committing resources to racial justice organizations like the Southern Center for Human Rights, Workers Center for Racial Justice, and Austin Justice Coalition across our Google Fiber and Webpass cities. As with our ongoing digital inclusion work, we’re working with local organizations with deep ties to their communities. The Google Fiber funds will support their racial justice work.

We also know we have work to do internally to live up to our values. In 2019, we adopted a commitment to equity, inclusion, and diversity (EID) as one of our company’s core values. We knew we wouldn’t be able to fulfill our mission, succeed as a business or sufficiently champion our customers without it. Over a year ago, we convened a task force of cross-functional leaders to begin an internal systemic change process aimed at more deeply integrating EID into every aspect of our business — from our product offerings to our customer service approach to our internal HR systems. Systems change work is a long game, and it takes shared, accountable leadership.

While we want to move quickly, we also need to embed EID, brick by brick, within all aspects of our business and across all of our team leaders for our values to be realized. We are seeing progress in learning and engagement from people across our organization — and we are both daunted and heartened by the steps we have mapped out ahead.

Caption: Cross-functional group of leaders at November 2019 systems meeting (Not pictured: La'Naeschia O'Rear, Jenn Chang)

These internal and external efforts are only part of a longer journey. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be featuring some of our local partners on this blog to highlight their work to bring racial justice and equity to their communities. And as we continue to advance digital inclusion and better connect communities, you can expect Google Fiber to be persistent in our pursuit of racial equity, within our workforce and in the way we do business in each of the cities we serve.



Posted by Parisa Fatehi-Weeks, Head of Equity, Inclusion, and Community Impact

While we love all of our Fiber locations equally, Utah has always been special to us.

Provo was one of the earliest Google Fiber cities — there, we built great relationships grounded in the city’s vision to connect an entire community to high-speed internet. That experience led us north to Salt Lake City, where we’ve been building, in the more traditional sense, a from-scratch fiber network to deliver gigabit internet to homes and businesses across Utah’s capital city.

As we finally near completion of construction in Salt Lake City, we’re not ready to stop growing in Utah. So, we’re excited to announce that we’ll continue to build our network into the neighboring city of Millcreek.

We’d like to offer a tremendous thank you to Millcreek Mayor Jeff Silvestrini and the Millcreek City Council, which tonight approved a license agreement giving Google Fiber access to rights of way to begin construction in the city later this year. We’re excited to work with the city of Millcreek under the leadership of Mayor Silvestrini to bring fast, reliable gigabit internet to residents in this first expansion along the Wasatch Front.

We still have a lot of work to do — we know there are still customers in Salt Lake City waiting for Google Fiber to reach their home. But tonight’s vote allows us to continue the project into Millcreek without delay, with the goal of serving our first Millcreek customers in early 2021.

Anyone interested in staying updated on our progress and learning when Google Fiber will be available at their address can sign up for updates at google.com/fiber.

Posted by Jacob Brace, Government & Community Affairs Manager, Utah

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

Earlier this week, our partner, NTEN launched applications for its sixth cohort of Digital Inclusion Fellows. The Fellowship program supports organizations serving communities impacted by the digital divide and who want to launch or expand digital literacy programs. In this time of social distancing and the urgent need to get more of our neighbors online, the program can be a resource to more organizations than we ever imagined when we first started.

Google Fiber is proud to have co-founded this program with NTEN in 2015. We’ve sponsored 68 Fellows over the first five years, driving meaningful work to address digital equity in their communities and establishing themselves as national leaders. Google Fiber-sponsored Fellows have provided almost 80,000 training hours for nearly 20,000 people across the country. They’ve built a legion of 1,200 expert volunteers who can help their neighbors navigate technology when they need a guiding hand.

There is a lot to share about past Fellows and the digital inclusion projects they’ve led — here are just a few examples from past cohorts:

• Krysti Nellermoe (Cohort 5), at the International Rescue Committee in Salt Lake City, developed new systems to expand digital services at every point of the refugee experience. Resources included integrated skills training in job readiness and financial literacy programs for new arrivals to the United States, as well as business development and entrepreneurship workshops for those who have been in the country longer. She also established a Tech Mentor program, which provided new devices and in-home training for participants, and a series of Citizenship and Digital Safety workshops for teens. The IRC also hired a full-time digital inclusion coordinator over the last year, which great increased the reach of the program.
• Emily Flores (Cohort 5), at the San Antonio Public Library, launched a Digital Inclusion Certification program, providing training in computer basics, job seeking skills, social media, and professional administrative skills in both English and Spanish.
• Lindsey Sipe (Cohort 4), at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, developed Project LIFT, a six-week technology course where families each received 12 hours of digital literacy training and received a laptop and hotspot at the end of the course. Over 300 families have completed the course to date.

In the age of COVID-19, every organization -- from schools and clinics to churches and nonprofits -- needs a digital inclusion plan and dedicated resources to help underserved clients get online and support the building of their digital skills. The NTEN Digital Inclusion Fellowship is just one way Google Fiber is working to increase the reach and impact of these vital efforts. Thank you for helping us spread the word and encourage applications for the next cohort of the program.

Posted by Parisa Fatehi-Weeks, Head of Equity, Inclusion and Community Impact

Like you, the Google Fiber team has become increasingly dependent on our internet connections for daily life. We’re working from home, teaching our kids, staying in touch with our friends and families, ordering meals and groceries, gaming, streaming, and trying to stay fit, centered and up-to-date on what’s happening inside our homes and outside our front doors  almost all of which needs the internet. 

So, we checked in with the Google Fiber team across the country to see how they’re putting their internet to use these days:



Since our beginning, Google Fiber has worked to connect more people to great internet. We’ve never been more committed to that mission. We’ll keep working toward that goal, because we know you’ve got a lot happening on the internet.

It’s National Library Week, and though many libraries are closed due to COVID-19, they continue to work to serve their clients and keep them connected to the larger world. To mark the week and honor the incredibly critical role libraries are playing every day both during this crisis and during more normal times, we’re sharing a post from Jill Joplin, Executive Director of the DeKalb County Library Foundation. The DCLF provides support beyond tax dollars to DeKalb County Public Library in Georgia and DCPL is just one of Google Fiber’s many library partners across the country working to help connect their communities during this time. For example, in San Antonio, we’ve partnered with Libraries without Borders to bring their Wash & Learn Initiative to local laundromats—and right now the WiFi has been extended to the parking lots so people can get online from the safety of their cars. In Nashville, Salt Lake City, Austin and other cities we have provided longtime support for Digital Inclusion Fellows and digital literacy support at public libraries.

At DeKalb County Public Library (DCPL), the Take the Internet Home with You initiative is one of the library’s most popular services and in today’s current COVID-19 environment, it is also one of the most valuable. Normally, patrons are able to check-out a WiFi hotspot for 21 days, and the devices are constantly checked out. Patrons wait by the front desk or call the library each day looking for returned hotspots. Our user data reveals more than 50% of patrons who check out these devices do not have access to the internet in their home.



Two of our regular patrons, who check out the devices as often as they can, were able to check out a device prior to the library’s closure due to COVID-19. The library is allowing patrons with the devices to keep them during the entirety of the closure and no late fines are being assessed. We checked in with them to see how they were using their devices. Joan is a retiree without home internet. She is very grateful to be able to keep the device she checked out during the library’s closure. She is staying in touch with her family and up to date with news and updates related to COVID-19. 

Our other patron, William, says what he once considered a pleasure — the ability to get online at home — is now a blessing. He has been able to file his unemployment paperwork online because he also had checked out a hotspot prior to the library closing. He also is keeping in touch with friends and enjoying streaming movies he wouldn’t be able to see without cable or an internet connection in his home. 

Although to many of us it seems like the entire world is virtually connected, in reality, 10% of Americans don’t have access to the Internet — that number goes up to 30% for low-income Americans. Staff at DeKalb County Public Library realized a few years ago that patrons were accessing the library’s WiFi signal during times the library was closed by sitting in the parking lot or on the steps of the building. Once we’d identified this need, DCPL began seeking funding to provide mobile hotspot devices for check out. 

Thanks to our partners at Google Fiber, Mailchimp, and New York Life, DCPL has been able to provide 200 hotspots to patrons across the library system. The library would not be able to offer this service without this funding from our partners.  While demand was always high for this initiative, with the economic impact of COVID-19, we anticipate it will be even more important in the future. We are proud we can support our patrons with this essential service. 

Posted by Jill Joplin, Executive Director,
DeKalb County Library Foundation

We’re all getting used to our quarantine world — working from home, teaching our kids, wearing masks — a lot has changed in the last month, and it looks like it’s going to be awhile before we return to our regularly scheduled lives.

Finding ways to connect with our families, coworkers, classmates, and friends from a distance has become essential for most of us. Google Fiber is grateful to get to be a part of facilitating that connection for our customers, and we take that responsibility very seriously. We wanted to share how we’re dealing with the COVID-19 crisis as we continue to bring high-speed, high-bandwidth internet to our customers and to our communities to keep even more people connected.

Serving our customers

Internet connections have become the foundation on which we build all our other connections, from work and studies to information and entertainment. A reliable Internet connection with the speed and capacity to meet our ever-growing needs is no longer something that’s just nice to have — it’s a necessity.

That’s why Google Fiber is continuing construction, installations and network maintenance. While most of our team members are working from home, we've made numerous process and equipment changes to protect the health and safety of our field teams, whose jobs require them to be out in the community, connecting customers or maintaining our network.

These include, but are not limited to:

• Personal protective equipment for our field teams 
• Regular handwashing and sanitizing
• Following social distancing practices
• Restrictions on certain types of construction methods

In addition to these enhanced safety measures to protect our customers and crews, we’re coordinating with local governments and engaging communities within each city we serve to make sure we're charting the right local approach

For the most up-to-date information on our health and safety precautions, please visit our help center. And although our retail Fiber Spaces are closed, we are standing by 24/7 to help with anything you need to make your internet work for you, so please reach out to our team if you need anything.

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Serving our communities

Advancing digital inclusion is a central tenet of Google Fiber. In each of our communities, we partner with local organizations doing great work to help build digital literacy and increase internet access for residents.

Over the past two years, Google Fiber has supported nearly 1 million digital literacy training hours, helped provide more than 10,000 free or affordable devices to residents in need, connected 275,000 people to STEM programs, and empowered 7,000 aspiring entrepreneurs with training programs. In fact, in the last two years, our partner organizations were able to reach over 1.3 million unique participants across the country.

But there is much more work to be done. COVID-19 has sharpened that need, drawing clear lines between the digital haves and have-nots. Google Fiber and Webpass are investing in efforts across each of our cities to help more people connect during this difficult time, supporting organizations to help them meet the enormous technology demands for students and workers.

In several cities, including Austin, San Antonio, San Francisco, Irvine, Provo, Salt Lake City, and Chicago, we’ve partnered with the local public school district or their foundation to help students and their families as they adjust to schooling from home — targeting those families most impacted by the digital divide.  In other places, we’ve also funded the efforts of incredible organizations to better serve their communities’ increased needs and help provide devices and hot spots to their  clients:

• Connecting for Good in Kansas City
• PCs for People in Denver 
• Craft Lake City in Salt Lake City
• Nashville Public Library Foundation
• United Way of Utah County in Provo
• Boys and Girls Club of North Alabama in Huntsville
• Latinitas, E4 Youth, and AVANCE in Austin

We don’t know what’s going to happen next. Things are changing on a daily basis, and, like all of you, we’re working to meet the challenges and opportunities of this new normal. We do know that what you need and want from your internet — speed, reliability, great customer service — isn’t changing. We want to help you with that goal, both to help meet today’s challenges and to help take advantage of the opportunities we hope tomorrow presents.

This post was updated on March 17, 2020 with links to information on how Google Fiber is supporting the FCC’s Keep America Connected pledge. You can also find that information here.

There’s a lot going on in the world right now, and many more questions than answers. Things are uncertain, and moving so quickly that it’s hard to keep track.

At Google Fiber, we don’t have the answers to the big questions facing us. But we know that a lot of experts are working to find them, and we’re thankful to the scientists, doctors and nurses, public health experts, government officials and nonprofit organizations working day and night to address the global pandemic of COVID-19.

We also know this: in times like this, connections matter. Possibly — probably — more than at any other time. We believe internet service is always critical to people and communities. In times of crisis, internet service is an even more critical lifeline.

We also feel a deep responsibility to do whatever we can to help flatten the curve and slow the spread of COVID-19 in our Fiber communities. So, we’re closing our Fiber retail spaces and discontinuing outbound sales processes until this crisis abates. We’ll continue to install service for new customers as long as it’s safe and we’re able to do so, and we’ll do everything we can to repair and maintain our network for customers who are relying on it, and on us.

We’ve never had data caps or late fees, and we’ve committed to making sure anyone who is financially impacted by the ongoing coronavirus outbreak will be able to continue their Google Fiber service during this difficult time.

Other internet service providers have also taken steps to extend a hand to their customers at this time, and we thank them for those decisions. We’re all in this together.

All of us must stay connected to information about our countries and communities. To expert advice. To our employers and educational institutions. To telehealth networks to take care of ourselves and relieve the burden on physical clinics and hospitals. And to entertainment to make a tense time more bearable.

And, of course and as always, to each other.

It’s Women’s History Month and we wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the incredible work that women are doing in the tech and gaming industry. From creating innovative new video games to teaching the next generation of coders, women are doing incredible things in these traditionally male-dominated fields.

The three women below inspire us every day with the work they are doing in our Google Fiber cities. They remind us why we do what we do — connect people to the things that matter to them. Find out what drives them in their own words (and if you want to learn even more about these superstars, follow us on Twitter and Facebook).

Elizabeth Schulte
Salt Lake City, Utah

Elizabeth is an interactive designer and digital media mentor at Spy Hop Productions. She teaches teens how to create video games.

Having women on a game creation team adds a more robust perspective. If every member of the team looks the same and acts the same, you’re going to get the same old answers. But by diversifying teams, we can get fresh perspectives to the questions asked and maybe even get new solutions to old problems. Females are half the population; we should represent a similar number in games creation.

To help support their girls’ interests in STEM, I’d give parents this advice: See teens where they are. Give them the tools to be successful. Celebrate the positive steps that they make. Let them fail in a safe environment; let them try to fix problems on their own first. Nudge them toward the solution; everything is an opportunity to learn.


Daisy Magnus-Aryitey
Durham, North Carolina

Daisy is a software engineer and the Director of Programs at Code the Dream. She wrote her very first line of code as a student with the organization. Now, she’s working to show other women that they belong in tech, too.

I don’t think being a woman necessarily made it more difficult to break into the field, but it does make it hard to advance in the field — to move into a leadership role. As a woman, and especially as a woman of color, you definitely have to be a vocal advocate for yourself.

I think the best way to show girls that they belong in STEM fields is to show them women who are in tech. It’s not enough to simply say that this is a field for everyone, and it’s not enough to celebrate a small number of women in tech that are based in New York City or the Bay Area. We need girls to see women in their own cities and communities who are working as software engineers.


Athena
Austin, Texas

Athena is a live streamer — meaning she plays video games with people watching her online, specifically on Twitch, for a living. She started gaming at 7 years old, and had no idea that it would turn into her career.

As a game-streaming woman, I did encounter a number of challenges early on. Initially, the major criticism was that my success was not attributed to hard work and providing entertaining content, but solely due to my gender. Over time, that criticism faded somewhat as my Rocket League community grew.

The impact I am able to have on the lives of the people in my community is my favorite part of what I do. If I can make one person smile or laugh or forget a tough time they are going through, even if only for a couple minutes, it’s all worth it.