The installation of super high speed Google Fiber Internet, which was presented by City leaders in 2014 as a major boost for the City's high tech image, is turning out to be a pain in the neck.
The Texas Watchdog, 1200 WOAI's content partners, used a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain documents showing that since construction on Google Fiber began early last year, Google contractors have broken 44 water lines, wasting water and disrupting service to residents, not to mention causing a strain on the San Antonio Water System.
In addition, while the contractors responsible for 13 of the line breaks have repaid SAWS for the costs of repairing the damage, Texas Watchdog reports that 26 line breaks, totaling more than $91,000 in damage, remain unpaid.
In addition, the rates being charged Google customers for the costs of the water lost due to the breaks is at a rate only 2/3 of what San Antonio residents would be charged for wasting the same amount of water, Texas Watchdog reported.
Just last month, City officials had to walk back a sweetheart deal which allowed Google, which is one of the largest and most profitable public companies in the world, to build its fiber 'huts' in taxpayer funded city parks at a nominal fee. This perk was not made available to any other private company in San Antonio, including powerful firms like Toyota and Valero, all of which are expected to buy property to build their own commercial facilities.
But the City is still allowing Google to build huts on taxpayer owned land near parks and fire stations, so Google can build a commercial for-profit enterprise, which will in turn expect the same people who have provided that land to pay for Google's high speed Internet service.
Another potential problem facing Google fiber, as reported in several tech publications, is that, outside of the actual tech community, many customers are not interested in paying more for super high speed Internet. Most feel that the speeds and bandwidth currently provided by traditional broadband Internet is adequate. That is leading to a smaller than expected customer base for the super high speed service.
READ THE TEXAS WATCHDOG INVESTIGATION: