Bringing Google to Chapel Hill

It's fascinating to see the decision taken to apply for this before there is any evidence of probable use! There may be a great deal, but I question all of the work that will be done by the Town of Chapel Hill (and for those who live in Carrboro, there, too) and UNC to put an application together before the evidence of need and probable use has been collected. It looks like a big team of people and that's a lot of government time being used and diverted from other work.

"Chapel Hill-Carrboro-UNC to Apply for Google Fiber for Communities


Posted Date: 3/3/2010

The towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have teamed up to apply for Google's ultra-high speed Internet project. A strong application will depend on identifying community resources that can contribute to the Google effort and enthusiastic community support for the project.

On Feb. 10, Google announced the initiative to deploy and test fiber optic networks that will deliver Internet services at a speed of 1 gigabit per second, which is more than 100 times faster than the speeds available to most Americans today. The communities selected by Google will be "testbed" communities that will help the company demonstrate the new capabilities enabled by faster and better broadband access.

Google will pay for the construction and operation of the networks and will charge customers competitive rates for the service. Besides the great benefit to business, economic development and the home user, ultra-high speed bandwidth will enable new consumer applications, as well as medical, educational and other services.

An inter-jurisdictional team is preparing the competitive application that is due on March 26. Team members include Ken Pennoyer, Dwight Bassett, Bob Avery, Sabrina Oliver and Catherine Lazorko from the Town of Chapel Hill; Andy Vogel, James Harris and Matt Efird from the Town of Carrboro; and John Streck, Linda Convissor and Shannon Tufts from UNC-Chapel Hill.



Residents, businesses, and community and University groups are encouraged to provide input through an upcoming public forum and an online survey, by joining the Bring Google Fiber to Chapel Hill & Carrboro NC Facebook group and may also provide input directly to Google. Learn more at www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/overview

• Joint Public Forum - A Joint Public Forum is being planned for 7 p.m. Monday,

March 15, at Chapel Hill Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., to receive public comment regarding community interest in the fiber optic trial and how residents would use an ultra-high speed Internet network.

• Public Survey - A survey has been posted at www.surveymonkey.com/s/QLM5QST. The survey is being used to gauge public opinion for the project and to receive ideas and comments for the application. Survey questions were taken from the Google Request for Information guidelines."