Finally!  Something better than secondhand hearsay from a “survey guy” wandering the neighborhoods regarding Google Fiber!

Marcia took these photos of the arrival and installation of the Google Fiber hut in downtown Decatur last Friday.   This is definitely the most visible sign that Google Fiber is coming to Decatur thus far.

An unofficial map of permits issued for Google around Atlanta shows there are a variety of Google Fiber Huts popping up around the metro.

The Google Fiber website has Atlanta in the “construction” phase of work.   After that it’s just “Sign Up” and “Installation”, so it seems like things are truckin’ along.

With the Wall Street Journal reporting this evening that Atlanta is among 4 Southern cities selected to receive Google Fiber – and an official announcement expected to come tomorrow – Atlantans are already asking questions about the much hyped, but perhaps not widely understood, service.

For starters, how much does it cost?

We can begin to get a sense of Google Fiber’s price from the cities where it is currently available: Kansas City, MO, Austin, TX and Provo, UT.

In Kansas City, the city with the most comparable population to metro Atlanta, Google Fiber offers Gigabit Internet and TV (150 channels) for $120/month with a waived $300 “construction fee” and include tv and network box and DVR.  If you just want gigabit internet, the service is $70/month in KC with a waived “construction fee”.

Most notable may be the Basic Internet option, which provides customers with 5mbps download/1mbps upload speeds for free for 7 years if one pays a one time $300 installation fee.

In both Austin and Provo, the gigabit internet-only is also $70 and the basic internet option is also free.  The Austin the TV/Internet option is $130/month, while Provo’s TV/Internet package is the same as Kansas City – $120.