Google Fiber Fuels Internet Access -- and Debate

Frustrated by the hammerlock of US broadband providers, Google has searched for ways around them to provide faster Internet speeds at lower cost, via everything from high-speed fiber to satellites. In the process, it is changing how next-generation broadband is rolled out.

Telecom and cable companies have traditionally been required to blanket entire cities, offering connections to every home. By contrast, Google is building high-speed services as it finds demand, laying new fiber neighborhood by neighborhood.

Others, including AT&T and CenturyLink, are copying Google's approach, underscoring a deeper shift in US telecommunications policy, from requiring universal service to letting the marketplace decide. As Google's model gathers momentum, it stirs up questions about whether residents of poor or underserved neighborhoods will be left behind.