Asheville can rally the grassroots for beer. Now the question is — can it rally the community to get Google to build a super-speed fiber optic network?
Here’s the background, which loyal reader John pointed me to:
(Wednesday) morning, Google announced their plans to build a 1 gigabit per second fiber network in several trial locations across the U.S. The company will service at least 50,000 users (and up to 500,000) at a “competitive price.” More so than theirfree Wi-Fi in Mountain View, the fiber plans will finally make Google a full-fledged ISP.
To put it in perspective, a gigabit connection would be 100 times faster than the fastest connection available to many Americans — a 100 megabit connection via cable or current fiber technology.
Like many of their projects, the fiber network would allow Google to explore the possibility of a faster Internet. Specifically, the company wants to focus on next generation web applications, new ways to deploy fiber networks — and perhaps most significantly, Google will allow users to choose their own provider on the network. They call it an “open access” network.
Loyal reader Brian wrote me to say Asheville needs to start a grassroots campaign now. Residents and local governments can express their interest in the Google project by clicking here and filling out their request for information.
And loyal reader Sean wrote me this:
Hi there, Love your blog.
Maybe you can get the word out; Google is looking to become an ISP and is searching for communities to do the initial roll out to. They’re looking for City officials and regular old folks to tell them why they should bring reliable, high speed internet to their communities. Do you think you could let everyone know about it?
So it sounds to me like there’s some interest around Asheville. But can it get organized? Can Asheville unite big and small players, and local governments, in a way that attracts the attention of Google? What’s the right strategy? How can Asheville build buzz for this project? Why is it important? What would be the benefits?
I have lots of questions. And I’m excited about the opportunity Google presents
10 Comments
I made a short film about the Google Fiber Initiative:
http://www.jennjacobsen.com/temp/Googe%20Fiber%20Initiative%20Interviews.wmv
Most of us already have broadband here in Asheville. Why not help neighboring city Burnsville in Yancey Co secure a Google network? Most residents have limited access from their incumbent. If you know someone in Burnsville, ask them about their broadband access.
Google will hardly waste time and energy dealing with the bumbling local bureaucrats, politicos and internet old-timers like Wally Bowen. As for the Hub initiative, I agree that it has not had much success, just smoke and mirrors. Seems like the usual powers-that-be got involved and wasted time and money. Let’s face it, Asheville is not Silicon Valley and never will be.
Just like spending $10,000 for bunnies on the bus? What great waste of cash that, when you go after this don’t waste anymore money.
Word is – the hub initiative is dead in the water. Don’t look there for any support.
We’re on it, AvlResident, as are a lot of others. Stay tuned.
Shouldn’t the Hub Project be out front on this? Didn’t the city give them a lot of money to do this? One of their goals:
To complete the build-out of broadband and high-performance computing and storage infrastructure. )
http://www.ashevillehub.com
Isn’t Wally Bowen working on something like this? Maybe Wally and Cecil and Gordon can spearhead an application to Google. Bryan Freeborn can take a leadership role also.
Someone needs to bring this up to City Council and to the County Commissioners at their meetings. Let’s get the area bloggers, news media, and techie organizations to make lots of noise. How about an online petition?
The RFI is due by March 26th. Not a lot of time.
In their own words, Google are "Interested in deploying our network efficiently and quickly, and are hoping to identify interested communities that will work with us to achieve this goal. We’ll use our RFI to identify interested communities and to assess local factors that will impact the efficiency and speed of our deployment, such as the level of community support, local resources, weather conditions, approved construction methods and local regulatory issues. The RFI is a first step – we plan to consult with local government organizations, as well as conduct site visits and meet with local officials, before announcing our final decisions."
Unfortunately, Asheville has a poor record of regulatory efficiency and bringing together public-private partnerships. Time to show some leadership, Asheville!