Gigabit Squared reveals pricing, reiterates West Seattle 2014 plans

New information from Gigabit Squared for the first time since the excitement over its announcement four months ago that its plans for mega-fast Internet service would include West Seattle as one of 14 “demonstration neighborhoods.” (Here’s our February report.) This morning, GB2 sent a news release with its projected pricing when it launches its first neighborhoods (listed as the West 
Campus
 District, 
First
 Hill, 
Capitol 
Hill
, and
 Central
 Area). You can read the full news release on the GB2 website; here are the toplines, and their reply to our WS-specific followup:

Plan A:

5 Mbps download/1 Mbps upload: No charge for 60 months
5/1 Mbps services are transferrable to new renters or owners
After 60 months renters or owners can convert to a 10 Mbps download/10 Mbps upload service plan for only $10 per month

Plan B:

100 Mbps download/100 Mbps upload for $45 per month
No installation charge with one- year contract

Plan C:

1000 download/1000 upload Mbps for $80 per month
No installation charge with one-year contract

If you’re not at Plan B level or higher with a one-year contract, the news release says, there’s a $350 installation charge.

We asked about the latest timeline for West Seattle; spokesperson Matt Weinland replied, “At this time, we only have specifics on the neighborhoods mentioned in the release. However, we’re working around the clock with our engineering and build teams to ensure that the original targeted communities will receive service as quickly as possible. We are planning to roll out service to all 14 neighborhoods throughout 2014. We will be making an announcement in July (next month) regarding how residents can sign up and help us prioritize neighborhoods.” The map on its website has the same West Seattle boundaries as it did in February, but GB2 said at the time that those were not necessarily the final boundaries, so if you’re interested, get on their list regardless of whether you’re in that area or not – here’s the current link.

25 Replies to "Gigabit Squared reveals pricing, reiterates West Seattle 2014 plans"

  • cjboffoli June 24, 2013 (10:21 am)

    Bub-bye Comcast.

  • Heather June 24, 2013 (11:07 am)

    Signed up! Fingers crossed.

  • JD June 24, 2013 (11:12 am)

    Here’s to hoping for Admiral District

  • squareeyes June 24, 2013 (11:24 am)

    Fingers crossed in Seaview!

  • DJ Allyn June 24, 2013 (11:28 am)

    Judging by the coverage map, MOST of us are not getting it any time soon. It appears that the focus in Seattle is basically in the areas with a lot of apartments.

    It makes a lot of sense — they can get more bang for the buck by concentrating on dense population areas first, where one termination point can serve many separate customers.

    I am waiting for Google to swoop in for some major competition.

  • B June 24, 2013 (11:35 am)

    Like DJ said, this seems to be targeting all the new condos/apartments on avalon/that area. Shame, the B & C plans sound cheaper than comcast while being faster, but if their business model is to target high density housing then it remains to be seen if they’re actually going to be faster (when you have 30+ units using a 1gigE connection, it’s basically like having comcast to each home).

  • Mat June 24, 2013 (11:45 am)

    Comcast is raising prices AGAIN on 7/1, and these guys or almost 10x the speed for ~$10 less. I can’t wait!

  • RS June 24, 2013 (11:48 am)

    Comcast was out on our poles (in south Admiral) a week or so ago, running new lines to increase capacity…

    I hope GB2 does come in strong, because the competition will be a good thing for customers.

  • Diane June 24, 2013 (11:55 am)

    thanks for more West Seattle centric info on this; saw this guy on tv news last night, but it was pretty generic about where/when/who would be getting it; so excited to see someone put us all out of Comcast misery

  • TL June 24, 2013 (12:07 pm)

    I wish they would setup in arbor heights, comcast is the only choice and it’s too expensive. Clearwire doesn’t work very well in the valleys, we tried that one.

  • V June 24, 2013 (12:11 pm)

    Don’t see it happening. There is no such thing as free service and there is no way that they are going to sell a gigabit of bandwidth for 80 dollars a month. It’s a scam.

  • Diane June 24, 2013 (12:15 pm)

    I can’t even open their map (obviously, I need their service); can someone tell me what areas of WS will get coverage? I’m between Admiral and Alaska junctions, few blocks east of California

  • Amie June 24, 2013 (12:32 pm)

    That’s a tiny sliver of W Sea. I’m on the border of White Center. :( Wonder how long it will take to get it in my area? I’d take plan B in a heartbeat to be able to dump Comcast.

  • ACG June 24, 2013 (12:38 pm)

    Signed up on their website for info, but alas, I live in Arbor Heights. Which means we will probably be the last area in WS to get it. For those of you lucky enough to get service, please keep the rest of us posted on how you like/dislike it.

  • 2krazy4words June 24, 2013 (12:58 pm)

    let’s see if this will work to upload the map of the West Seattle coverage area …

  • 2krazy4words June 24, 2013 (1:01 pm)

    click on this link to see the West Seattle coverage area: https://www.box.com/s/4few82kdag3ccna5uum9

  • p June 24, 2013 (1:42 pm)

    and…buh-bye Century Link

  • Diane June 24, 2013 (3:50 pm)

    very interesting, in PS biz journal TechFlash today; Comcast has hired new VP away from Century Link; interview re Comcast facing all the new competition, including Gigabit Squared
    ~
    Puget Sound Business Journal http://tinyurl.com/pwl4yrz
    ~
    I love this question:
    ~
    “Many people complain that Comcast’s customer service is terrible. It’s almost a cliché at this point. My personal experience when I set up service at home recently was completely awful. Obviously, you’re dealing with business customers, but many of them have had experience at home with the residential side of Comcast. How do you address that issue, especially as your competitors like Wave are selling their service based on their great customer service?”

  • Joe Szilagyi June 24, 2013 (3:52 pm)

    The day this hits Arbor Heights, it’s time to jump to a basic Comcast TV package (for sports of course!).

  • CubanRefugee June 24, 2013 (4:54 pm)

    I must be the only one who doesn’t hate Comcast. Every time I’ve called them I’ve gotten nothing but friendly and helpful techs, granted, I know way more than them being a network IT guy, but still.

    I’m interested to see what kind of throttling GB2 does on their connections, because I guarantee all of you they’re not going to give you a 1gbps line directly to your home with completely unfettered access, especially for $80/mo. There will absolutely be a catch when it comes to data usage. High usage customers I’m sure will see either a limit cap imposed or “prime time” throttling of their speed.

    I’ve moved several TB (yes, terabytes) of data between home and work and Comcast doesn’t bat an eye, I still get my full 150Mbps on a consistent basis. I do pay around $120/mo (business class) for it, but as an IT pro, it’s well worth it. GB2 also falls short one measly block of the Pigeon Point neighborhood, so blah.

  • Aaarg June 25, 2013 (7:53 am)

    Hmm…Its not THAT much of a better deal. sure cheaper is cheaper, but Im also interested in seeing what the catch will be….or when comcast or century link will buy them out. I do only have a 1m connection with comcast so I dont know about higher tiers.

    ..also dissapointed it falls short of PP.

  • Wild One June 25, 2013 (9:11 am)

    Competition is good for the customer. I hope it works well and that they eventually expand their West Seattle service. I’d definitely sign up for their Plan B.

  • Nick June 25, 2013 (4:24 pm)

    Thank you. I am totally dumping Comcast can’t wait

  • Cyn June 25, 2013 (10:31 pm)

    We should be getting cheaper rates. After all, these ISPs are selling our data. Why can’t the government take it over and get everyone in the city service? That way they don’t have to ask anyone for permission for it. Dirtbags.

  • Joel June 26, 2013 (8:02 am)

    There will no throttling on this service. Google in Kansas City and soon to be in Austin does not throttle their service at a cost of only $70/month for 1 gig. And there will be no cap on this service at all. If you think about it, 4K tv’s are just around the corner and streaming 4K movies is going to eat your bandwidth very quickly if you are on Comcast. Either Comcast is going to change or get out of the market.

Sorry, comment time is over.