Google confirms Austin as next Fiber city

It's official. Google Fiber is headed to what is arguably the tech capital of Texas: Austin.

After some recent rumors, Milo Medin, vice president of the Google Fiber team, confirmed the news in a blog post on Tuesday.

Austin follows up Kansas City as the next city where Google is deploying gigabit Internet. As of now, the goal is to start connecting homes in Austin by mid-2014.

Google Fiber promises one gigabit upload and download speeds -- touted to be 100 times faster than average Internet connectivity speeds today.

Medin explained more about the deployment plan in the blog post, much of what is based upon testing in Missouri:

Customers there will have a similar choice of products as our customers in Kansas City: Gigabit Internet or Gigabit Internet plus our Google Fiber TV service with nearly 200 HD TV channels. We’re still working out pricing details, but we expect them to be roughly similar to Kansas City. Also, as in Kansas City, we’re going to offer customers a free Internet connection at 5 mbps for 7 years, provided they pay a one-time construction fee. We’re also planning to connect many public institutions as we build in Austin— schools, hospitals, community centers, etc. — at a gigabit for no charge.

Basic Internet connectivity with Google Fiber in Kansas City is free (albeit a $300 setup fee), while gigabit Internet starts at $70 per month. Google Fiber gigabit Internet plus TV service costs $120 per month. The latter two options waive the construction fees but come with two-year contracts.

Interested Austin residents are already being invited to sign up for more information about participating in the Fiber program now.

For more about Google Fiber's move to Austin, check out the promo clip below:

Image via Google Fiber