TBG client, Huntsville Utilities, announces Google Fiber in Huntsville, Alabama.

“The city of Huntsville, Alabama wanted a company to provide it gigabit fiber internet so badly, it went and built most of the physical infrastructure for the high-speed network itself. Monday, that effort was rewarded when Google announced that Huntsville would become the next Google Fiber city.

In nearly every city offering Google Fiber thus far (with the exception of Provo, Utah), Google has built the fiber network from scratch and has been the sole provider. But in Huntsville, a city of 180,000 with a high concentration of tech companies, Google will be just another customer utilizing the fiber infrastructure for high-speed internet that the city announced in 2014.

The fiber expansion will cost the city of Huntsville $55 to $60 million, but it expects to earn back its investments by leasing the fiber to Google and other providers.

‘This is a unique model where Huntsville Utilities builds the fiber network and leases excess capacity to private companies,’ Mayor Tommy Battle told Motherboard by email.”

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