[curiouscats]

It would. And my guess is they will sign up. But it might be that they are less likely to sign up early compared to all the software developers reading Hacker News.

I would bet once people see their friends getting a good deal they will sign up. So for people that haven't been watching this fiber initiative for a year (or more), it may take awhile before they jump onboard.

I mentioned in another comment if I were Google, I would pick at least some poor neighborhoods to build out (even if they didn't met the original targets. I believe those will spur others to join. Target where you can get a bunch of schools, libraries included in the build out... Google's goal with this is really much bigger than being profitable as fast as possible in KC. More fiber nationwide (with reasonable rates and net neutrality) as quickly as possible is what they want.

If they have to put up a bit more cash up front than they hoped they would be wise to do so. I think they know this and will. They also want the finances to work out (even more to build the case for this being feasible than for their finances - in my opinion). So they don't want to run tons of fiber that doesn't provide a decent return. But I think they would be really stupid to not run any to poor areas (even if no poorer areas make the desired cut-offs).