Google building "experimental fiber network" - Should Northfield apply?
Google plans to deploy a competitively priced superfast fiber to the home (FTTH) network to between 50,000 and 500,000 people - they have invited communities to apply for consideration.
Perhaps Northfield should be among the applicants.
The plan is for a network that supports speeds of 1 gigabit per second, "100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today."
The city has been actively working on ways to get better broadband in Northfield for some time. The information techology page on the city website provides documents related to these efforts, including a Request for Interest (RIF) dated April 18, 2009, seeking a FTTH partner.
Griff Wigley at Locally Grown Northfield has posted many articles on Northfield's quest for fiber, including an article earlier this year, "Will Northfield hit the broadband stimulus jackpot?" that highlighted Northfield's efforts to pursue a federal stimulus grant.
On September 21, he added the words - "No, What's Next?"
I'm not sure what steps the city has taken since then, but hope the Google opportunity can become a part of the discussion.
Fiber financing
Nate - why not contact Melissa Reeder (melissa.reeder@ci.northfield.mn.us ) about this? You've probably seen the consultant report she brought to the council last spring (
mso-ansi-language:EN-US">http://www.ci.northfield.mn.us/assets/c/CCG-FTTP-Report-for-Northfield.pdf
).You won't be able to find minutes to the council's work session on September 21, 09, when Melissa reported that the city about funding options. Here are my notes as LWV Observer:
Information Technology Department Manager Melissa Reeder provided information about funding options for a municipal fiber optic system. For various reasons, Northfield doesn’t qualify for stimulus funds for this service. It appears that this project will go into the “parking lot” for the time being.
I'll do some digging to find if she provided some kind of printed report. There is nothing on the city council website.
I don't recall that this issue has been taken up since that meeting, but Melissa can bring you up to date.
It would be worth pursuing the Google support!
City considering google opportunity
I did contact Melissa, and she says city staff are reviewing the application process to see if it could be a good fit. Google has now added an FAQ page that provides some extra info:
http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/faq
city applying to google fiber for communities
According to the Northfield News, the city is applying for the Google Fiber for Communities program. Yay!