Google Fiber, Fast Broadband/TV Service, Starts in Kansas City

It almost sounds like a new cereal, but Google's Fiber is the search giant's fast new Internet and TV service. The company has been working on it for the last year and a half. The service was detailed today by Google, and residents of Kansas City can now pre-register to get it. "Google Fiber starts at a speed 100 times faster than most Americans have today," Milo Medin, vice president of access services at Google, said at the Fiber event today in Kansas City. According to Google, the connection will run at 1,000Mb per second -- much faster than Verizon's 300Mb-per-second FIOS service, which is also fiber based. Fiber-optic connections provide much faster speeds than DSL and cable. The faster Internet connection will enable faster web surfing, video streaming, and uploading; downloading a movie will take just a few minutes. Google's Network Box, a box it will provide to customers, will serve as a hub for the service in houses, but it will also require special installation to get the hook-up. The box is also a Wi-Fi router and has four Ethernet ports. Google's also providing the TV offering to compete against other cable and Internet providers. The company will provide the full TV channel lineup and an HD TV box that is capable of recording up to eight shows at the same time. The box has built-in Netflix and YouTube streaming capabilities. Google's latest Nexus 7 tablet will also be included in some packages and will work as a remote. The pricing structure is also unique. For $120 a month Kansas City residents can get the Internet connection and TV; there's no construction or installation fee. For $70 a month, they can just sign up to get Internet connectivity. On top of that Google is offering Internet with no monthly fee. However, to get it you need to pay a $300 construction or installation fee. There is no data cap on any of the plans, meaning customers will get unlimited Internet access every month. The free option is guaranteed for at least seven years and includes the network box. While it all sounds better than the competing services out there, availability is very limited for now. Google is planning to accommodate everyone in Kansas City, Mo. and Kansas City, Kans., but it is requiring people there to pay $10 to pre-register now with their neighbors. The areas that have the most registrants will be the first to get the service in their neighborhoods -- or what Google is cleverly calling "Fiberhoods." "We believe Google Fiber is best when you have a critical mass of users," Medin said at the event. Technology analysts point out that this is just a project. "It's all part of a larger experiment which is typical Google. Put something out there as a stake in the ground. Learn from the effort and iterate quickly," Michael Gartenberg, Gartner Research Director, told ABC News. "It certainly looks to be a compelling deal at face value, but when it comes to this level of effort, it's all about the details, levels of service and overall experience that matter." Google has not discussed plans to expand its Fiber offering beyond Kansas City. If you live in Kansas City, you can pre-register here.

Melton commits £360k to super-fast broadband rollout

The first Leicestershire council has made a commitment to supporting the rollout of faster broadband. Melton has become the first borough in Leicestershire to make a financial commitment toward the rollout of super-fast broadband. The local council has agreed to invest £360,000 of its capital receipts in a multimillion-pound scheme that aims to deliver broadband connectivity to rural communities, along with next-generation speeds for towns and cities. Byron Rhodes, leader of Melton Borough Council, told the Melton Times that all the money needed to take the project forward is now in place. Councillors are now awaiting approval from government agency Broadband Delivery UK to select a contractor, with BT and Fujitsu both in the running. Once a preferred provider is in place, progress on the deployment could begin as early as this autumn, Mr Rhodes explained. "Melton is the first district council in Leicestershire to approve its contribution, so we should be first in the queue and that is what we are saying to the county council," he added. Under its super-fast broadband plan, the county council is aiming to deliver the technology to the 'final third' of local properties set to miss out on commercial rollouts. In Leicestershire, up to 190,000 people could be left without next-generation connectivity unless the local authority intervenes.

Pay TV revs to grow 13.5% by 2017

Global pay TV revenues will grow by only 13.5% between 2011 and 2017, according to a new report. But while revenues are expected to fall in the U.S. due to competition and more homes taking pay TV, broadband and telephony in one package, Latin America will jump 57.7%, followed by Eastern Europe at 48.5% and Asia Pacific at 40.1% in the next six years. This is according to Digital TV World Revenue Forecasts, published by U.K.-based Digital TV Research, which surveyed 80 countries. The U.S. will remain the world's largest pay TV revenue earner by some distance at $81.04 billion in 2017, down $1.2 billion on the 2011 take as more homes convert to bundles and prices dip due to competition. However, it easily outstrips the two next biggest markets, Japan and Brazil, predicted to be worth $10.6 billion and $10.1 billion respectively, with Brazil's revenues doubling over the period. These countries are followed by China ($9.71 billion), the U.K. ($8.4 billion) and Canada ($7.2 billion). Report author Simon Murray said, "Brazil in particular is going gangbusters due to government liberalization encouraging overseas investment. "In North America and most parts of Western Europe pay TV is a mature market. "Latin America and Asia-Pacific, especially India, are the growth pay TV markets."

Sky Broadband Customers Offered GBP100 Voucher

Sky is giving potential new customers a larger incentive to join up to its refreshed broadband packages . The internet provider is offering a free £100 voucher for use at Marks and Spencer to consumers who subscribe to a selection of its broadband, calls and TV bundles . This includes the Sky TV, Broadband &Talk package priced at £21.50 per month; Sky TV Extra, Broadband Unlimited &Talk (£34 per month); Sky TV, Sky Movies, Broadband &Talk (£37.50 per month); and the Sky TV, Sky Sports, Broadband &Talk bundle (£42.50 per month). Sky's entry-level package (Sky TV, Broadband &Talk) comes with Sky Broadband Everyday Lite, which offers households a 2GB monthly usage allowance, up to 14Mb download speeds and a free Sky wireless 'N' router . The deal also includes free evening and weekend calls to UK landlines, although a monthly line rental fee of £12.25 applies, 39 entertainment channels, a free Sky+ box and free standard set-up. The free M&S voucher is also available with a number of Sky HD TV packages, which also come with a six-month 50 per cent discount on high definition services. For example, subscribers to the Sky HD TV, Broadband and Talk bundle pay £26.62 a month for the first six months of their deal instead of the standard monthly price of £31.75, saving them over £30. Sky began offering M&S vouchers back in February as part of a special promotion for its Sky+ service, which allows users to record two shows at once, even while watching another that they've already recorded.