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