One year after signing up its first residential clients in Huntsville, Google Fiber said today it is now offering small- and medium sized business plans to customers with speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second.

Google Fiber city manager Laurn Johannesmeyer announced the plans with "no hidden fees, data caps or contracts" at a breakfast celebration at the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce.

Coupled with stepped-up service by other Internet providers, some of it since Google Fiber announced it was coming, today's announcement moved Huntsville closer to Mayor Tommy Battle's goal of being "a Gig city," officials said.

Google Fiber isn't everywhere in Huntsville yet. To picture where it is, picture Huntsville as a clock face. The company started offering residential service at "12 o'clock" in north Huntsville, and it's now at "6 o'clock" with crews working in south Huntsville's Farley area. Service in the Big Cove/Hampton Cove area - "3 o'clock" - is also available.

"We see it as being an offering for the photography shop, the graphic designer, businesses of that nature," regional Google executive Terrence Brooks said of the business plans. "If you want to move a lot of data fast ... we are a great solution for that."

Business plans are priced at $250 per month for Gigabit speeds, $100 a month for speeds up to 250 Mbps and $70 per month for up to 100 Mbps, according to a Google Fiber handout.

As for Google Fiber in the rest of the city, Huntsville Business Relations Officer Harrison Diamond said, "I think we've got everything down pat now and are making progress."

Huntsville lured Google Fiber to the city by announcing a plan to upgrade its utility system with fiber optic cable and provide extra fiber capacity for lease. The city is "essentially recreating our entire electrical infrastructure within a five-year period," Diamond said.

"It takes time," Diamond said. "Hanging fiber is easy, but when you have to go into the ground, that makes it a little more difficult. We've been pretty happy with the movement so far. We've got northeast Huntsville now, Hampton Cove and are now going into south Huntsville."

As for the downtown area and west Huntsville, patience is the word for Google Fiber. But Internet providers such as AT&T, Comcast and WOW are also offering faster speeds in Huntsville now.