Google Fiber vs Quantum Fiber
These two overlap in 11 metro areas and 56 towns and cities, so for a lot of people this is a real choice rather than a hypothetical one. The first question is not which is better. It is which of them can reach you.
Quantum Fiber is CenturyLink's consumer internet brand, so if you are comparing CenturyLink this is the same network.
Google Fiber vs Quantum Fiber at a glance
| Measure | Google Fiber | Quantum Fiber |
|---|---|---|
| Main technology | Fiber | Fiber |
| Residential locations on that technology | 1,886,259 | 3,157,734 |
| Single technology or mixed | Mixed | Mixed |
| Full coverage detail | Where Google Fiber is available | Where Quantum Fiber is available |
We do not publish speeds or prices here. Both providers change them constantly and by market, and a stale number is worse than no number. Coverage is the part that is federally reported and verifiable.
Where you can get both
Metro areas where both Google Fiber and Quantum Fiber report service, ranked by how well covered the less available of the two is because that is what decides whether you genuinely get a choice.
These percentages count each operator's whole reported network. 24.2% of what Quantum Fiber files is fiber. The FCC publishes that split nationally and never per metro, so a high number here means the operator reaches the metro, not that it reaches it on that technology.
| Metro area | Google Fiber | Quantum Fiber |
|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake City, UT Metro Area | 44% | 89% |
| Pocatello, ID Metro Area | 34% | 79% |
| Logan, UT-ID Metro Area | 20% | 69% |
| Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA Metro Area | 18% | 81% |
| Provo-Orem, UT Metro Area | 16% | 69% |
| Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA Metro Area | 8% | 76% |
| Ogden-Clearfield, UT Metro Area | 4% | 80% |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area | 3% | 80% |
| Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metro Area | 2% | 92% |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area | 1% | 45% |
| Blackfoot, ID Micro Area | 0% | 60% |
Where only one of them reaches
Google Fiber reports service in 18 states and Quantum Fiber in 18, and they share 8 of them. Overlap is the exception, not the rule, so if you are outside the table above this is the part that answers your question.
15 metro areas have Google Fiber and not Quantum Fiber
- Kansas City, MO-KS Metro Area 56% covered
- Raleigh-Cary, NC Metro Area 33% covered
- Huntsville, AL Metro Area 32% covered
- Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Metro Area 30% covered
- Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX Metro Area 22% covered
- San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX Metro Area 22% covered
- Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metro Area 12% covered
- Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area 11% covered
201 metro areas have Quantum Fiber and not Google Fiber
- Los Alamos, NM Micro Area 95% covered
- Colorado Springs, CO Metro Area 88% covered
- Boulder, CO Metro Area 88% covered
- Rock Springs, WY Micro Area 87% covered
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metro Area 87% covered
- St. George, UT Metro Area 85% covered
- Grand Junction, CO Metro Area 85% covered
- Kalispell, MT Micro Area 85% covered
States where only Google Fiber reports service: Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas. States where only Quantum Fiber reports service: Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
Showing the eight best covered of each. Ranked by reported coverage within the metro, from the same FCC filing as the table above. Providers self report and overstate, so read these as a ceiling on where a company will sell to you, not a promise about your street.
Which should you pick?
Honestly, in most of the places above only one of them will actually reach your building, and that settles it. Where both do reach you, the useful question is the technology rather than the brand.
Both are mainly fiber networks, so the technology argument does not separate them. Compare on price, contract terms and local service reputation instead, none of which the FCC publishes, and none of which we will invent.
See which one reaches your address →
What we will not do is tell you one is better because it pays us more. See the affiliate disclosure for how that works.