Google Fiber Gets Ready to Rally in Raleigh

Google Fiber’s build out in Raleigh, N.C., is gearing up now that the ISP/pay TV provider has identified nine initial locations for its “fiber huts,” The News & Observerreported (hat tip: DSL Reports).

Those huts, each 28 feet long and nine feet tall, will supply the backbone of a network that will deliver a mix of gigabit broadband and pay TV services, the paper noted, citing Mike Basham, Raleigh’s broadband manager.

Per its typical game plan in other cities, Google Fiber will build and deploy services using its demand-based model. Google Fiber has already identified several other cities in the area that are being targeted for service -- Carrboro,  Chapel Hill, Durham, Morrisville, Cary, and Garner. Google Fiber plans to deploy more than 5,700 miles of fiber and install 26 fiber huts in the area, the paper said.

Google Fiber will be tangling with AT&T, which has been deploying its fiber-based “GigaPower” platform in the region, and with Time Warner Cable, which began its ‘TWC Maxx’ upgrades in Raleigh back in March.

Google Fiber has deployed service in Kansas City; Provo, Utah; and Austin, Texas. In January, it announced plans to expand to 18 new cities across four metro areas in the Southeast U.S. -- Atlanta, Ga.; Charlotte, N.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.