Clark Mackey
ttolle
gordonsmithFiled under: google fiber
Google had originally declared it would announce the winning cities “before the end of the year.” They have put off that deadline, citing the large number of submissions.
From Google:
We’re sorry for this delay, but we want to make sure we get this right. To be clear, we’re not re-opening our selection process—we simply need more time to decide than we’d anticipated. Stay tuned for an announcement in early 2011.
Here’s the post from the official Google blog; the delay was announced on Dec 15th, 2010.
Filed under: google fiber | Tags: bad protectionist legislation that can ruin your state, ban on municipal broadband, nc ban on municipal networks
Note that the bill is officially opposed by a large number of NC citizens as well as Google, Intel, Alcatel-Lucent, the Fiber to the Home Council (FTTC), American Public Power Association (APPA), Atlantic Engineering, Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), and the United Telecom Council (UTC). The bill also directly contradicts the Federally-approved and currently in effect National Broadband plan.
Filed under: google fiber | Tags: Google fiber for NC, reasons for Google fiber, Vint Cerf
Speaking about Google Fiber, the article quotes Cerf:
“We really have no interest in turning [Google Fiber] into a business that we operate… Our first objective is to demonstrate that a wholesale model can be made to work,” Cerf said of providing Internet broadband. “The second is to document what problems arise.”
According to the article,
“Cerf, who knows a great deal about networking infrastructure from his days at the old MCI, said Google would like to deploy, test and then turn over the broadband lessons learned to true providers.”
This echoes what we know about Google’s plans for building an open network – they want to build it, learn from it, and then turn it over to another entity.
Here’s the full article on Local Tech Wire.
Filed under: google fiber | Tags: community owned fiber network, state ban on community owned networks
And several NC state legislators are attempting to ban those types of networks.
Here are some of the links:
http://stopthecap.com/2010/04/15/north-carolina-action-alert-anti-municipal-broadband-bill-is-back-better-than-ever-if-you-are-time-warner-cable/
http://stopthecap.com/2010/04/19/north-carolina-action-alert-update-get-to-raleigh-this-wednesday-and-join-the-fight/
Bottom line: this is a bad bill and it appears to have been drafted to protect current broadband companies, rather than to encourage the building of better networks.
Please contact the representatives on the “Revenue Laws Study Committee” (these are the folks who must pass the bill first, and they are the ones responsible for its creation) and tell them to vote no for this bill (see the links for more information).
Here again is the information for the membership of The Joint Revenue Laws Study Committee, so get on the phones and write those e-mails!:
(Please send individual messages to members, even if the contents are essentially the same — avoid simply CC’ing a single message to every representative.)
- Sen. Daniel Gray Clodfelter (Co-Chair) Mecklenberg Daniel.Clodfelter@ncleg.net (919) 715-8331, (704) 331-1041
- Sen. Daniel T. Blue, Jr. Wake Dan.Blue@ncleg.net (919) 733-5752, (919) 833-1931
- Sen. Peter Samuel Brunstetter Forsyth Peter.Brunstetter@ncleg.net (919) 733-7850, (336) 747-6604
- Sen. Fletcher Lee Hartsell, Jr. Cabarrus, Iredell Fletcher.Hartsell@ncleg.net (919) 733-7223, (704) 786-5161
- Sen. David W. Hoyle Gaston David.Hoyle@ncleg.net (919) 733-5734, (704) 867-0822
- Sen. Samuel Clark Jenkins Edgecomb, Martin, Pitt Clark.Jenkins@ncleg.net (919) 715-3040, (252) 823-7029
- Sen. Josh Stein Wake Josh.Stein@ncleg.net (919)715-6400, (919)715-6400
- Sen. Jerry W. Tillman Montgomery, Randolph Jerry.Tillman@ncleg.net (919) 733-5870, (336) 431-5325
- Rep. Paul Luebke (Co-Chair) Durham Paul.Luebke@ncleg.net 919-733-7663, 919-286-0269
- Rep. Harold J. Brubaker Randolph Harold.Brubaker@ncleg.net 919-715-4946, 336-629-5128
- Rep. Becky Carney Mecklenberg Becky.Carney@ncleg.net 919-733-5827, 919-733-5827
- Rep. Pryor Allan Gibson, III Anson, Union Pryor.Gibson@ncleg.net 919-715-3007, 704-694-5957
- Rep. Dewey Lewis Hill Brunswick, Columbus Dewey.Hill@ncleg.net 919-733-5830, 910-642-6044
- Rep. Julia Craven Howard Davie, Iredell Julia.Howard@ncleg.net 919-733-5904, 336-751-3538
- Rep. Daniel Francis McComas New Hanover Danny.McComas@ncleg.net 919-733-5786, 910-343-8372
- Rep. William C. McGee Forsyth William.McGee@ncleg.net 919-733-5747, 336-766-4481
- Rep. William L. Wainwright Craven, Lenoir William.Wainwright@ncleg.net 919-733-5995, 252-447-7379
- Rep. Jennifer Weiss Wake Jennifer.Weiss@ncleg.net 919-715-3010, 919-715-3010
Filed under: Reasons for Asheville | Tags: Asheville invites Greenville, google fiber, googleavl, Hatchfest
For those not familiar with Hatchfest, it is a conference (of sorts) that, “provides mentorship, education, inspiration and recognition to the next generation of creative innovators.”
For me, Hatchfest is simpler: It’s one of the best events in the whole country for examining other people’s great ideas. It is brain food and a call to action, all rolled into one.
All the daytime events are free. You can see the complete Hatchfest schedule here (on that linked page, the small icons at the top filter the list of events by discipline). The schedule rewards careful study.
This list is just my selection and it is tech-centric. The full schedule includes many events in technology, design, architecture, fashion, journalism, art, and music.
- Thursday Apr 15:
2:00pm Storytelling vs. Storydwelling Workshop with Jim Banister, CEO of Spectrum DNA, a design media studio. @Asheville Area Arts Council(AAAC)
(more…)
Filed under: google fiber | Tags: google fiber poll, googlefiber.com, trouble loading googlefiber.com
http://polldaddy.com/community/poll/3012129/
Two things were pointed out to me today (kudos to Michael at Ponderwell for the heads up).
- The Unofficial site that is running the poll, Googlefiber.com, is throwing out error messages and not always online.
- The actual poll is hosted from PollDaddy, meaning we can access or embed the poll anywhere.
So there you go – keep voting for Asheville!
Here’s the link: http://www.googlefiber.com/#pd_a_3012129
You can vote once a day and the poll closes in 30 days. I note that Greensboro is making up ground fast, so lets get the word out a bit.
Filed under: google fiber
That is a large enough sum to install quite a bit of new fiber, but I’m not clear on the details of how the program operates or exactly what it will be helping to build out.
Several Western North Carolina counties are a part of the program, including Buncombe.
Are there any readers out there want to chime in and explain in more detail how these funds can help us build open access fiber networks in our area?
The Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative will greatly increase the broadband capacity and stabilize costs for 179 public school systems, community college campuses, libraries, universities, and other public institutions through direct connections to the existing North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN). MCNC has operated NCREN for the last quarter century. In January 2010, MCNC received $40M in the first round of federal funding to build out NCREN in the southeast and western portion of North Carolina.
In addition to supporting key community anchor institutions, consumers and small businesses will benefit from agreements among MCNC and several private providers that will result in more broadband options for last-mile and wholesale connections.
Here’s the full Golden Leaf press release.
EDIT: This was an April fools day announcement from a non-Google source. I’m preserving the rest of this post as it was this morning, even though the “Google fiber Mountain” blog has disappeared. We remain proud supporters of both Google fiber and April fools day pranks.
We’ve got fiber!We were proud to learn that Asheville was among the cities selected for Google’s fiber mountain project. You can see the map and read the full announcement here.
It was an extremely difficult decision. Our decision was strictly based on proximity, community involvement, and RFI response. Today we are announcing the first round of recipients. Our mission is to bring affordable, efficient, and cost-effective Ultra-High Speed bandwidth…
We are excited to be joining Greenville, SC – Asheville, NC – Johnson City, TN.
The details are still trickling out but three cities – Asheville, NC, Johnson City, TN, and Greenville, SC – will all be linked with a high speed fiber optic network, creating “Google mountain.” This is very good news.
** The blog in question before it was taken down by Google **
Filed under: google fiber
What are the real economics of broadband infrastructure? It’s not so simple as market opportunity, investment, and subscribers; Verizon and Comcast have different regulatory histories and see the world differently. Google, as a potential new entrant, has completely different motivations.
Let’s take a look at the regulatory background, and then get a sense of what’s really motivating Verizon, Comcast, and Google.
He goes on from there – hit this link to read the whole post.
You can also check out, “Why is Google building a fiber network now,” as posted here several days ago. The two posts illustrate the same theme, but with slightly different perspectives.
