A common question in the thread following the announcement earlier this week that Google was beginning talks with the City of Decatur to bring Google Fiber to the community was something along the lines of “Anybody know a way to provide support to the city on this?”
Well,the City of Decatur has responded with a list of things residents can do to help convince Google that they should bring Fiber to the city. From the Decatur Minute…
Yesterday’s announcement of Decatur as one of 34 cities under consideration for the next round of Google Fiber expansion resulted in an outpouring of enthusiasm from residents, business owners and, well, just about everyone. City leaders and staff are busy taking the next steps in the joint planning process, and updates will be posted here as they become available.
Google wants to know that there is grassroots support for Google Fiber in Decatur. Here’s what you can do to help:
1) Visit https://fiber.google.com/newcities/ and click on the “Get Updates” button. The more people who sign up for updates that live or work in Decatur the better, so be sure to use a City of Decatur address.
2) On Twitter? Tweet your enthusiasm to @GoogleFiber and @Google using the hashtag #DecaturGA
3) Express your support on the Google Facebook page in a comment that tags the Downtown Decatur Facebook page.
4) Follow the Fiber Google+ page.
5) Get creative! Google has a corporate culture that values forward thinking, so reaching out to the company in creative and innovative ways is encouraged. How would Google Fiber improve your life, your business or the entire Decatur community? Let Google know “Decatur wants Google Fiber!”
The city would like to hear how you creatively told Google “Decatur wants Google Fiber!” Share in the comments or email [email protected]ecaturga.com
Give Google all your info for free. Do their marketing for free. Do their social media advertising for free. You guys are sooooo easy.
Perhaps. But every kid knows that filling out a list, then nagging/reinforcing constantly, is the surest way to get the stuff you want come holiday time.
Render unto Google the things that are Google’s, and unto Decatur the things that are Decatur’s.
It’s in the bible!
As opposed to remaining stuck with Comcast? Absolutely.
Exactly. I can’t wait to sever ties with those liars/crooks.
And if they’re going to go ’round dyeing our rodents so they look like rainbows, count me out.
6) Don’t mention any collaboration between Google and the NSA to illegally mine your data.
http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1kzrk3/julian_assange_on_the_relationship_between_google/
Comcast would never do anything like that.
Comcast is too incompetent to do anything like that.
I have a tinfoil hat that is thicker than most, but the NSA does not need Google Fiber to spy on us. If they want to, they already are. Comcast, and every provider in the USA are all under the same umbrella in that rainfall.
I would at least like to have the opportunity to choose from at least 2 internet & television providers instead of the single option I currently have (which is “ok”, but not unlimited gigabit for less $). Free market competition between the giant players, and down the road maybe some small to mid-size players can join the game too. We gotta start somewhere, and adding Google Fiber is a *great* start IMHO. Speed & HD TV
I say compete with them — if they don’t do it somebody else will. Start a public utility, maybe a membership corporation similar to an REMC, to build and manage the network. Chattanooga did it more than 4 years ago.
One question that comes to mind is this; is there any installed fiber in Decatur already? I would think that CCP Games has a fiber connection and certainly Emory does. How hard is it to build a network out from existing systems?
There are likely private fiber systems around. There are other entities currently planning fiber networks in the Atlanta metro area. Google can’t run them all.
There are quite a few providers of dark fiber in Atlanta. Here is an incomplete list of maps: http://www.telecomramblings.com/metro-fiber-maps/georgia/
The company I work for helped install Emory’s optical network and several others in the metro area. The equipment required is expensive and the multi gigabit connections to the public Internet are costly as well. It would require a significant capital commitment by the City of Decatur to undertake such project and that would still only provide raw IP connectivity. The Google Fiber offering provides IP video services for TV and movies which is not something CoD would want to get into the business of. Content provider negotiations, headend and in-home hardware, etc., etc. It is a lot more work than it might seem on the surface.
Yes, there are a couple of commercial only providers getting into the market and laying their own fiber. They don’t want to deal with the household market.
I’m going to highlight this on my MySpace and Live Journal pages.
Haha! Don’t forget Google Buzz.
What is MySpace? I could not even find a corresponding Facebook page!
Doesn’t the IB program have a community service component? I think this would be a great community service for some high school students. Make a video, interview some homeowners, take a poll of business owners, publish it on your blog, send the results to google. It would look great on a college application. “I started a blog that heled bring Google Fiber” to my hometown. Who’s got some initiative?
Just now heard an interesting story on NPR about cities building their own high-speed networks when the legacy operators decline to do so. The cable/phone companies say they can’t afford to do it, but when the cities consider doing it on their own, guess who lobbies against it? Don’t know how Google factors into this, but I wonder if there are options if they don’t choose us…
Here’s an article about Google entry into Austin and Kansas City and the legacy provider’s reaction to it:
http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/legacy-cable-operators-austin-are-terrified-google-fiber-148570