Google Fiber to the Pole answers gigabit need outside the home

Kansas Citians with Google Fiber are spoiled by gigabit speeds when they’re at home, but how do they access the ultrafast internet connection when they’re on the go? “We realized that the answer was all around us—utility poles,” Michael Plump, product lead for Fiber to the Pole, said today on the Google Fiber …

Kansas City Startup Village co-founder Adam Arredondo explains the benefits of Google Fiber to the Pole.

Kansas Citians with Google Fiber are spoiled by gigabit speeds when they’re at home, but how do they access the ultrafast internet connection when they’re on the go?

“We realized that the answer was all around us—utility poles,” Michael Plump, product lead for Fiber to the Pole, said today on the Google Fiber blog. “Poles already have our Fiber strung to them; all we had to do was come up with a way to make that Fiber accessible.”

Users can take advantage of the new Fiber hookups by downloading the Fiber to the Pole Android or iOS app and tapping their device to a pole-mounted QR code three times, Plump demonstrated in a video today (below).

“Google Fiber coming to Kansas City has completely energized the tech scene here,”  Ben Barreth, founder of Home for Hackers, said in the video. “And Fiber to the Pole now has taken that to the next level.”

Google community manager Rachel Hack and Kansas City Startup Village co-founder Adam Arredondo also vouched for the potential of Fiber Poles, with Arredondo calling it a “destination for hackers from all around the country.”

This is Google’s second year with a Fiber-related April Fools’ Day joke. Last year, Google showcased a “Fiberlicious” nutritional bar that receives feedback from the body on which nutrients it needs most. Along with Fiber to the Poles, Google has created promotional videos for several fake products this year: Google Nose search, Treasure Map mode for Google Maps and a YouTube competition for the best video on the site.

 

Credits: Video frame and video from Google Fiber on YouTube.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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