Newton Applies for Google Fiber High-Speed Internet

I'm pleased to report that our citizen initiative to get Newton to apply for the Google high-speed internet pilot program helped the city to submit an application before last Friday's deadline. Maurya Sullivan of the Planning Department did much of the legwork in putting together the application. Also, Citizens Assistance Officer Aaron Goldman deserves a great deal of credit for managing to coordinate this project while dealing with flooding-related emergencies.

Only a few of the 600 communities that applied will make the cut and we won't know if we are among them for months, but I'm proud that we put our best foot forward. Also, I want to thank our many volunteers who put together the NewtonFiber.net web site and worked to support the application. In particular, Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce President Tom O'Rourke acted quickly to survey Newton businesses to guage their interest, which led to a strong indication of support that may prove to be an important factor in our consideration.

Here's the full text of the press release sent out by the Mayor's Office:

City of Newton Applying to be a Google Fiber Test Community

Newton--The City of Newton hopes to become a test community for Google Fiber, an ultra high-speed internet network to be developed by Google.  The city is partnering with a local citizen initiative to complete an application by March 26th and encourages interested residents to voice their support.  If Newton is selected by Google, residents and organizations would have access to browsing speeds up to one-hundred times faster than what is currently available.

“It’s an exciting opportunity,” said Mayor Setti Warren.  “We have an extremely high percentage of computers in homes as a community, and we could benefit greatly from the increased internet speed if we are fortunate enough to be chosen.”

"This is a great opportunity for our tech-savvy community," said former Alderman Ken Parker who initiated the citizen effort.  "The company is looking for evidence that people want this service, and so they need to hear from interested citizens.  All Newton residents are encouraged to visit the Google website to nominate our community."

To nominate Newton to be a Google Fiber test community please visit:  http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/options and click on "nominate your community."

According to a statement about Google Fiber on the company's website, "We plan to test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Our 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. We'll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people. From now until March 26th, we're asking interested municipalities to provide us with information about their communities through a Request for information (RFI), which we'll use to determine where to build our network."

Comments

[Shawn Fitzgibbons]

It's hard to fathom Google NOT choosing Newton. But if they didn't, maybe a 'do it yourself' solution?

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/04/google-fiber-losers/