Yesterday Google Fiber stole headlines with its announcement that it would be offering gigabit broadband to a few apartment buildings in San Francisco...some day. While the announcement was extremely light on details regarding price, full scope, and availability (read: virtually none), it overshadowed the launch of a significantly larger and cheaper San Francisco gigabit fiber deployment by independent ISP Sonic, one of the only viable survivors of the CLEC/ILEC wars of years past.
According to a
blog post by Sonic CEO Dane Jasper, Sonic's now offering uncapped gigabit fiber -- plus unlimited phone service -- for $40 a month, notably less than Google Fiber's $70 price point. The unlimited home phone calling componentincludes unlimited nationwide and global calling to 66 countries, notes the company.
"After years of planning and construction, I am happy to announce that Sonic has launched our Gigabit Fiber service in San Francisco," states Jasper.
Sonic says that it has deployed its wholly-owned fiber service throughout the Sunset and Richmond Districts in San Francisco, as well as the Jasper and NEMA buildings downtown. The ramped up deployment comes after Sonic deployed gigabit fiber in Brentwood and Sebastopol, plus business parks in Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Windsor.
"$40 per month plus taxes and fees works out to a total of about $58 per month," the company says of the offering. "$58 is about one third of the price that most San Francisco residents are currently paying for their Internet and home phone service through AT&T or Comcast."
Between Sonic, Google and other offerings, San Francisco's becoming one of a growing number of American cities that are, after a decade, finally getting a taste of what actual broadband competition looks like. Interested San Francisco residents can head to Sonic's
Gigabit website for more detail and to check for availability.
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