After years of waiting, San Antonio will finally join the list of cities to have gigabit Internet connection. Five years since the original application, the announcement of Google Fiber’s arrival to the Alamo City came Wednesday, August 5, from Mayor Ivy R. Taylor.

“The city has worked diligently with Google Fiber leadership over the past two years to help establish better policies and practices to become a true Gigabit community,” said Hugh Miller, the City’s Chief Technology Officer.

The arrival of Google Fiber will greatly improve both broadband speed. In comparison to the 11.9 Megabits per second of average American broadband speed, San Antonio residents will soon be able to enjoy up to 1,000 Megabits per second.

“This commitment [to bringing fiber-optic networks to its residents], coupled with the city’s lively startup scene and community-based tech initiatives, played a huge role in our decision to bring Google Fiber to the city,” said Mark Strama, Head of Google Fiber Texas. “We are incredibly excited to begin our next phase of Google Fiber in Alamo City and witness the amazing things that San Antonians do with gigabit Internet.”

Next on its agenda, Google will be working alongside Mayor Taylor and city leaders to build an entirely new fiber-optic network capable of delivering the gigabit speeds all over San Antonio. The next stage will be devoted to designing and planning the fiber-optic network on a very detailed level which, according to a blog post (http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/san-antonio-fiber.html) by Strama, will comprise a layout of over 4,000 miles of fiber-optic cables across the metro area. After this month long process, Google Fiber will then begin the construction of the network.

The arrival of the fiber-optic network means the potential to create more jobs for San Antonians as the city continues to grow, establishing itself as one of the leading cities in the U.S.

“Google Fiber will provide San Antonio with the competitive business and entrepreneurial edge needed in this era of continuously evolving high-speed technology,” said Mayor Taylor. “Our residents, neighborhoods and businesses will benefit greatly from having access to ultra high-speed Internet and our becoming a Goggle Fiber community brings us a giant step closer to becoming a community where all our residents are connected to opportunity.”

Digital advancement of this sort means that more startups and local initiatives like Bexar Bibliotech, the first completely digital library in the country, will establish roots in the city becoming part of its tech landscape.

“Above all, it signifies that San Antonio is on the cutting edge,” said Miller. “One of the ‘it’ cities in an increasingly urban country that is racing toward the future.”