3 years in, many Nashvillians still waiting for Google Fiber

Residents across Nashville (TN) have been waiting for the highly anticipated Google Fiber internet service since Google announced its expansion to Nashville three and a half years ago. While parts of several neighborhoods and apartment buildings have access to Google Fiber, many Nashvillians continue to renew contracts with existing providers they pledged to drop when the city rolled out its red carpet to Google. Since it began installation in 2016, Google Fiber has connected 52 Nashville apartment buildings and single-family homes, and the company declined to offer specific adoption numbers.

Deployment challenges that Nashville Google Fiber Manager Martha Ivester has discussed stem from a contentious legal battle over access to utility poles. Google proposed an alternative "One Touch Make Ready" process that would allow independent contractors to move all existing cables in one session, accelerating the installation process and reducing disruption to streets. It was met with staunch opposition from Comcast and AT&T, which owns 20 percent of Nashville poles. Nashville Electric Service owns the remaining 80 percent. After weeks of contentious meetings debating whether to approve One Touch Make ready, Metro Council sided with Google Fiber. The council vote quickly prompted lawsuits from AT&T and Comcast that claimed Metro lacked the authority to regulate utility poles. After the city spent roughly $140,000 on legal fees to argue the case, a federal judge in Nov sided with AT&T and Comcast, ruling that only the Federal Communications Commission could regulate poles owned by AT&T. A separate judge ruled in January that the city did not have the authority to allow One Touch Make Ready on poles owned by Nashville Electric Service. The FCC issued an order in August allowing One Touch Make Ready, but the ruling does not apply to NES poles in Nashville, according to the FCC. It is up to NES to determine if it will allow One Touch Make Ready in Nashville and the municipally-owned power provider indicated that it will stick with the status quo process of moving each line separately, without elaborating on its reasons for doing so.