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Last year, Google decided to begin phasing out its Fiber TV cable service as it continued to prioritize its gigabit internet. Fiber TV is basically live television delivered over “internet that was built for it”, but it won’t be around for much longer. Today, Google began giving away free Chromecasts with Google TV to Fiber TV subscribers in an effort to get them to cancel their service plan.
Youtube TV – Google’s new golden child (that many users have a love and hate relationship with), provides pretty much the same live TV service to subscribers, without being reliant on or at least tied to the Fiber internet service package. With unlimited cloud DVR, access to individual libraries for each member of your Google Family Group, and over 80 channels for one (ever-increasing) cost, Google TV did something right – it quickly became widely available…something Fiber TV simply could not do.
Google Fiber, and by extension, Fiber TV only made it into a select few cities before rollout was paused for several years. After being resumed, the service simply didn’t have as much push behind it as it did initially. It feels as though Google shifted its efforts pretty dramatically in recent years, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Focusing on services that require no physical Fiber TV box and rolling it out to as many people as possible as quickly as possible was clearly the better approach here, and the company must have seen this as well.
Anyways, Fiber TV subscribers are also getting their in-home router swapped out with a Google Wifi when they cancel and move over to a Chromecast – the device that lets them have way more of a content selection without the setup fees and large bill.
As you can see in the image above posted by AndroidPolice, Google even detailed its Fiber TV service and compared it to Chromecast with Google TV and Live TV Streaming services alike. The result is that Fiber TV lacks 4K Ultra HD and Voice control among other features, and Google themselves pit these against one another to make a case for switching. If you’re currently a Fiber TV subscriber and have a mind to make the switch, just click the blue button below to be redirected to the upgrade site where you’ll be well on your way!
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