Google Fiber is rolling our a major speed upgrade early next year, offering symmetrical upload and download speeds of up to 8Gbps.
Google teased speed upgrades for Fiber last month, promising up to a 20x increase over its baseline 1Gbps service eventually. A 20Gbps service will have to wait, though, as Fiber subscribers are going to be offered 5 Gig (5Gbps) and 8 Gig (8Gbps) options first.
The 5 Gig service will cost $125 per month, while the 8 Gig option is $150 per month. Compare that to the existing 1 Gig (1Gbps) service costing $70 per month, and the 2 Gig (2Gbps) service costing $100 per month, and the extra cost certainly seems worth it for the huge speed gains you'll enjoy.
Google says the two faster tiers are for "even heavier internet users" than those on its 2 Gig service. The company points to creative professionals, people who work in the cloud, and households with a lot of people accessing the internet as the target audience. With the 8 Gig service, Google says it will "make sure that everything you are doing online is happening in near real time (without jitter and with low latency)."
Although we don't have a specific date for when 5 Gig and 8 Gig will launch, Google says existing Fiber subscribers in Utah, Kansas City, or West Des Moines can sign-up now to try the new speed tiers starting next month. Beyond that, Google is going to keep us waiting to find out which locations will gain access next year.