I wanted to take a minute to share the official press release for today’s big announcement with all of you. This is a very exciting opportunity for our community!
Google announced today its selection of Kansas City, Kansas, as the location for its ultra high-speed fiber project.
“The wonderful diversity of our community, neighborhoods and industry make Kansas City, Kansas a microcosm for the rest of the country,” said Mayor/CEO of the Unified Government Joe Reardon. “When you combine these assets with our well-established track record of development partnerships, we feel Kansas City, Kansas is the perfect location for Google to launch its fiber project.”
Google unveiled their plan a year ago to build and study the use of ultra-high speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the country. As part of this process, the company asked interested communities to submit an application. Like more than 1,100 cities across the nation, the Unified Government (UG) submitted an application for this unique and innovative partnership.
“This project represents the future of how we connect to the web, and we want it to start in Kansas City,” said Milo Medin, Vice President for Access Services at Google. “It is a real honor for Google to be here, and we will work hard to deliver a service that will delight and empower this community to lead the nation forward in broadband.”
Google plans to offer service to the citizens of Kansas City beginning in 2012. In addition, as part of the agreement, Google will be providing free access to schools and city facilities as the fiber network is deployed.
“The deployment of this high speed Internet service into our neighborhoods will undoubtedly further advance the academic vision and goals of our local schools and universities. Our students will benefit from this new opportunity allowing them to use this next generation fiber optic system to fully realize their potential in a global economy,” said Reardon.
Google has committed to providing 1 gigabit per second fiber straight to homes and businesses at a competitive price. This is 100 times faster than most broadband connections speeds. One of the company’s goals is to improve Internet access by observing how communities transition from traditional broadband to ultra high-speed fiber optic connections.
“Over the past decade, the jump from dial-up to broadband has led to streaming online video, digital music sales, video conferencing over the web, and countless other innovations that have transformed communication and commerce,” Medin said.
Additional information on the Google Fiber project in Kansas City, Kansas is available at www.google.com/fiber/kansascityks.
