Google Fiber Huntsville

Huntsville Utilities crews strung large-capacity fiber optic cable from the top of Green Mountain into the Big Cove area this week as it began building the network that will bring Google Fiber high-speed Internet to homes and businesses beginning in mid-2017. (Huntsville Utilities photo)

Huntsville Utilities crews began installing fiber optic transmission lines this week that will make possible Google Fiber's entry to Huntsville. Crews began by stringing cable from the top of Green Mountain down into Big Cove.

These are the large fiber cables that will be the backbone of the system bringing Gigabit-speed Google Fiber to Huntsville beginning in mid-2017. The distribution network that will extend that cable to individual businesses and neighborhoods is still being designed, utilities spokesman Joe Gehrdes said Friday.

This Huntsville Utilities image shows how fiber optic cable will reach individual addresses in the city. Work has now begun on stringing the high-capacity fiber optical cable where it is still needed. That cable will connect to distribution hubs where companies who wish to lease capacity - like Google Fiber - will connect to the system. (Huntsville Utilities diagram)

Installation of the distribution network will begin this summer, Gehrdes said. The network will include "hubs" and "co-location structures" where Google Fiber and other customers will connect.

The utility system is spending an estimated $55- to $60 million to extend its fiber optic cable network to modernize and better manage its growing system. It is building excess capacity into that grid and will help pay for the entire grid by leasing the excess capacity to Google and other companies that want it.