Google Fiber Service Now in Mission, Kan.
Internet search giant Google Inc. (GOOG) has announced the expansion of its high-speed Internet service through its fiber-optic network to Mission, located outside Kansas City.
Google’s ultra-high speed service named Google Fiber is already available in Kansas City. Other than Kansas, Google announced its plans to expand to North Kansas City, Raytown, Grandview, Gladstone, Raytown and Lee's Summit in Missouri. Google has not yet mentioned an exact date for rolling out Google Fiber in Mission.
Google provides the service under three plans. In the first one, the residents pay $70.0 a month solely for the Internet connection. The second plan comes at a price of $120.0 and offers TV service, a digital video recorder and a set-top box along with a tablet-computer remote control. The third option offers seven years of free Internet access at comparably slower speeds for which the customer needs to pay a one-time installation fee of $300.
Google is banking on its Internet speed to attract users. This can open another growth avenue for the company as speed has been the limiting factor for increased consumption of video and other data-heavy activities through the Internet. Whether Google can make it commercially viable is still not clear because others (Verizon and AT&T) have already tried and failed.
In the first quarter of fiscal 2013, Google reported solid earnings of $10.07 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $1.24. Google’s gross revenue (including total traffic acquisition costs [TAC]) came in at $13.97 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 31.2%. However, revenues excluding TAC came in at $11.0 billion, 12.7% lower than our estimated $12.6 billion.
Google has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Other stocks that have been performing well and are worth considering include Yahoo Inc. (YHOO), Facebook Inc. (FB) and Akamai Tech. (AKAM). While Yahoo carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Facebook and Akamai carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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