[runeks]

You can't really generalize about per-installation costs. Digging fiber out to several houses is much more expensive than digging over to a 200-apartment complex, which lets you split the bill for laying fiber between 200 people.

In Copenhagen, Denmark, my apartment complex just got connected for 3800 DKK per apartment. And that's in a country with fairly high wages and 25% VAT. For similar apartment complexes (large ones, close to each other), in the US (where labor is cheaper and there isn't 25% VAT), I imagine Google can easily do less $500 per apartment, and possibly reach $300.

Provided Google doesn't have to pay a tonne in fees to get to lay fiber in the ground (which is probably why it's only available in select locations).

[adventured]

Labor is cheaper in the US? Can you provide some data on that, I understood labor was cheaper in Denmark. From what I've seen the median income in the US is about 20% higher than in Denmark.

[runeks]

Looks like the mean hourly wage for electricians is about 20% higher in Denmark compared to the US (avg. $25.75 vs 188.07 DKK for 2013) [1][2]

[1] http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes472111.htm

[2] http://www.def.dk/Loen/Loenstatistik/Loenstatistik.aspx (sorry, Danish)