Decision Points : Google High Speed Network

Google chooses to deploy ultra high-speed network in Kansas City

Brooks Bennett — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:04:00 GMT

After a year reviewing over 1,100 community responses to the Google Fiber for Communities project, Google has chosen to deploy its ultra high-speed network in Kansas City, Kansas.

Again, we want to thank all 1,194 citizens who responded to our survey and the businesses and institutions who wrote letters of support for the City of Round Rock's application for the project.

You can find our archived response, including survey results and other supporting materials, at roundrocktexas.gov/google.

An update on Google fiber

Brooks Bennett — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 22:17:00 GMT

Earlier this year, the City of Round Rock and 1,099 other communities submitted applications to help Google test an ultra-high speed broadband network in our community as part of the Google Fiber for Communities project.

Google was anticipating announcing the selected community or communities by the end of 2010, but a post on the Official Google Blog has announced that the decision has been pushed back until early 2011 due to overwhelming response.

Again, want to thank all 1,194 citizens who responded to our survey and the businesses and institutions who wrote letters of support. You can find our entire response, including survey results and other supporting materials, at roundrocktexas.gov/google.

Thanks for supporting Round Rock's Google Fiber for Communities response

Will Hampton — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:01:00 GMT

On Thursday, March 25, the Round Rock City Council unanimously approved a resolution of support for our submission to Google's Fiber for Communities project. Google plans to test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Their networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. They'll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.

We want to thank all 1,194 citizens who responded to our survey (even the 13 who did not support Google providing ultra-high speed access here) and the businesses and institutions who wrote letters of support. You can find our entire response, including survey results and other supporting materials, at roundrocktexas.gov/google.

Even though Google has renamed itself Topeka (note the date of this post, please), we're still feeling lucky.

Deadline approaches for Google Fiber for Communities RFI

Brooks Bennett — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:17:00 GMT

The City of Round Rock is putting the final touches on our response to Google's Request For Information (RFI) for its Fiber for Communities project.

If you would still like to have your voice heard, we will keep our survey open until Monday, March 22. As of March 19, over 800 Round Rock residents have taken the survey. For information on the City's efforts can be found at www.roundrocktexas.gov/google.

We realize that communities around the United States are excited about the prospect of ultra-high speed Internet. Too many to count are vying for Google's attention, so we put together a short and sweet video on why we think Round Rock is a great choice.

In other high speed Internet news, the Federal Communications Commission released their National Broadband Plan on March 16 and have posted a wealth of information at www.broadband.gov.

From their website:

"The National Broadband Plan lays out a bold roadmap to America's future. These initiatives will stimulate economic growth, spur job creation, and boost our capabilities in education, healthcare, homeland security and more.

Explore the Plan below and learn more about how affordable, high-speed broadband access will help America lead in the 21st century."

Online communication is becoming vital in our daily lives, and the overwhelming local and national response to Google's RFI makes that evident.

Come on Google, we're feeling lucky.

Yes, we are looking at the Google fiber network offer

Will Hampton — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:10:00 GMT

We've had a few emails as well as a couple of tweets to @roundrocknews asking if the City is considering Google's RFI (Request For Information) for a community to host a whiz-bang fiber network. The answer is yes, we are taking a look at it.

If you haven't heard, Google announced Feb. 10 it is "planning to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States. We'll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people."

The deadline to respond to the RFI is March 26. While it may seem like a no-brainer to submit, we want to do some homework over the next couple of weeks to make sure there are no unintended consequences. If we decide to go for it, I suspect we'll be asking you, dear readers, to join us in the effort.

What do you think? Should we go for it?