Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has revealed plans to discontinue its Internet offer in Kansas City where it offered a 5Mbps alternative which would be free for the first six years.
Customers that subscribed to the service were initially required to pay an initial installation fee of $300 after which they would receive internet at 5Mbps for six years without having to pay an extra dime. The company has revealed that it will be discontinuing the offer, but it will provide an alternative where users will receive 100Mbps at a monthly fee of $50.
This means customers looking for affordable internet can no longer sign up to Google’s previous offer, but those who had already subscribed to the service will continue to receive it. Google did not reveal the reasons behind the decision. However, it might be because the $300 might have been beyond the reach of low-income earners and it might not have been attractive to people who move often. The new $50 monthly offer does not include any installation plans, and it will be more appealing due to its price friendly cost.
The new offer will be much faster than the 5Mbps service, and it will also be the most affordable option in its class. The previous service is still on offer in some of the other areas where Google Fiber is available in, but the company claims that it will be terminated by May 19. Though it was an attractive offer, it still faced some problems such as buffering while streaming. The new service which is also called Fiber 100 will be a better alternative to customers because it will also offer faster speeds.
The company had announced in its blog two months ago that internet access should be available to more people and that it was seeking out new ways of making that happen. The announcement pointed out that the firm was planning to launch a new low-cost internet option that would be fast enough to stream HD content and make video calls. The services complement the superfast 1Gbps Google Fiber service, which costs $70 per month.