MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GFiber strives to be an internet company for the next generation of Internet users — meeting the challenges of today and building for the demands of tomorrow. This only happens by anticipating what’s coming and being ready for it before it gets here. GFiber aims to always be one step ahead so customers never have to worry about their internet. From continuing to push multi-gig speeds to the home and in the home to using AI and machine learning across many facets of the business, the team at GFiber is working to make next gen internet the reality right now.
A Modern Network Built for Today. . .and Tomorrow
Last month, GFiber rolled out 5 Gig and 8 Gig in San Antonio and has been making announcements like this regularly over the last 15 months. This milestone marks a huge step forward for GFiber’s entire network and its ability to serve customers well into the future. With the San Antonio launch, nearly all GFiber customers in single family homes can get the full range of symmetrical multi-gig products. This is a fundamentally different way to deploy a better network. GFiber is upgrading its entire network infrastructure — proactively replacing its GPON network with XGS PON — not picking and choosing specific neighborhoods or streets, to ensure it has a cutting-edge network for today and one that can support customers’ future internet needs.
This also means that no matter the age of the network — whether in GFiber’s “hometown” of Kansas City or its newest metro of Omaha — GFiber customers are served by the same state-of-the-art network architecture. GFiber is investing in the holistic customer experience to ensure that customers have exactly what they need when it comes to their internet. To do this right, speed to the home, speed in the home, and the quality and reliability of that speed are all equally important. By the end of 2024, GFiber expects almost all new customers to be on XGS infrastructure, which will set them up for future needs. The internet service provider is also deploying Nokia 25G PON technology across its cities to go beyond 8 Gig (more on that later).
Powerful Wi-Fi that Complements GFiber’s Network
But speed to the home is just the beginning. No matter how much internet is coming into someone’s home, Wi-Fi will dictate the speed reality for the vast majority of customers. GFiber is just as obsessed with speed in the home; that is, speed over Wi-Fi. Over the past year, the team has retired legacy routers and moved to deploy Wi-Fi 6E to all new customers. Additionally, GFiber proactively replaced its legacy network boxes with newer devices and all 1 Gig+ products include mesh extenders — both at no cost to customers. And by the end of 2024, GFiber is planning to incorporate new Wi-Fi 7 devices into its offerings as they become readily available and is already using a custom-built Wi-Fi 7 solution with its GFiber Labs 20 Gig product.
These advances make multi-gig speeds over Wi-Fi possible. More importantly, they ensure that customers get the experience they expect and that they can truly use the internet they are paying for. Consumer devices and apps will continue to evolve to be able to harness more and more speed. As GFiber customers upgrade their devices, they will be rewarded with speed boosts because they already have the right network, routers and extenders in their homes.
Quality you can count on – literally
GFiber’s quality of service approach doesn’t stop at the front door. To make sure that they’re delivering on the service promise, GFiber continues to up their game to keep the network strong. Additionally, the team is doing proactive sweeps of the entire network daily and using advanced telemetry technologies to monitor both the network and equipment. GFiber technicians and support reps also have these same tools.
At GFiber, it is important that customers have visibility into the quality of their in-home internet experience, so the internet service provider is launching a personalized home network quality score in the next few months, which will sum up the robustness of the network for each customer on connectivity, speed, and coverage — all the way to the GFiber Wi-Fi router and beyond to the mesh extender. It includes the quality of the internet coming into their home and to the router, how well their network is working inside their home, down to whether the extender is positioned ideally in the home to maximize coverage. Through the GFiber App, customers will have more transparency into their network, and have the tools they need to ensure their network is working as intended.
Preparing for what’s next — GFiber Labs
This is really just the beginning. How our society uses the internet is only getting more advanced and what we demand of our network today will seem laughable in retrospect. GFiber Labs is aiming to take on this challenge, in partnership with other companies, working to push the internet forward. GFiber announced that it would be deploying Nokia 25G PON to offer symmetrical 20 Gig in every city by the end of 2024. The team has begun incremental upgrades from XGS to 25G as part of GFiber Labs early access to this product. Response was incredible, as GFiber had over 4000 people express interest in being one of the first to try out 20 Gig, and they started installs in the Triangle in North Carolina in April.
There have already been incredible cases from some of the 20 Gig testers. Austin PBS is using 20 Gig to upload the entire archive of 50 years of Austin City Limits, and in Provo, the United Way of Utah County is putting 20 Gig to work to serve the community and better connect their clients.
GFiber’s goal is to anticipate what’s coming and build the ISP for the next generation of internet customers. Everything is at stake – the customers, employees, a better internet and an innovative online experience that drives progress across the industry for all. GFiber is actively working to be better at every point in the internet delivery process and to help move the entire ecosystem forward. This isn’t just the next gen internet we know that customers deserve, it’s the one they will need.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ac34641c-7903-4540-b3db-2fb947a7ac2e
Media inquiries: fiber-pr@google.com
