Editor’s note: Erik Garr, Director of Sales & Business Operations, Southeast, Google Fiber
RALEIGH – Earlier this week, the City of Raleigh hosted the Triangle Smart City Summit, which turned into a lively discussion of all of how technology can improve opportunities for health, education, welfare and community engagement for all who live here.
Almost every presentation – from advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) at NC State to advanced home sensing technologies to help senior citizens living with disabilities – relied on a high-quality, high-speed broadband network. Thankfully, the Triangle region is well on its way to the infrastructure of the future due to the competition we see in our local broadband marketplace today.
Google offers fiber Internet service in several parts of the Triangle.
I moved to the Triangle four years ago to help build Google Fiber’s high-quality broadband service in our community. At that time, the best Internet I could purchase for my home were two DSL connections at a total cost of $146.12 a month for a spotty service which did not accommodate streaming video in a reliable way. I also purchased a satellite video service for another $100+ so I could watch local news and sports.
What a difference four years and more competition can make.
Erik Garr
After Google Fiber’s launch in 2016, many residents across our community can purchase gigabit service from Google Fiber for $70 a month, with no contract, no extra fees, and award winning customer service – highly rated by Consumer Reports and a two time gold medal winner of the “Stevie” Award for sales and customer service.
At the same, other Internet service providers in the Triangle have improved their speeds and prices, too, making our region a dynamic marketplace, where consumers benefit from more choice, from providers working harder to win your business and provide you with fantastic service.
The big winner here is the region, which becomes a “smart”er city every day. Vibrant broadband competition has turned both Raleigh and Durham into two of the top 10 marketplaces for broadband based on the Ookla Speedscore which relies on many hundreds of thousands of speed tests across the country.
More competition means more broadband and more opportunities to make our region smarter now and in the future.
