MONROE - A group of citizens and organizations decided to file information with Google for the city to be a test site for the company's ultra high-speed broadband network at a meeting Wednesday at City Hall.
People representing Green County Development Corporation, Green County Future Forward, Monroe Main Street and the City of Monroe discussed the necessary information Google would need to make Monroe a test site.
Steve Moon of Future Forward said the company would need to know such things as the city's demographics, why Google should choose Monroe and what facilities and resources Monroe has to attract the company.
Rob Jacobson was selected by the group to spearhead the effort for the group. He will work with city and county department heads to gather the information to present an application to Google, which must be submitted by March 26.
Google will use the application to assess such factors as the level of community support, local resources, weather conditions, approved construction methods and local regulatory issues. Google will select the trial locations later this year.
None of the people at the group could say with any certainty that Monroe would be selected as a test site for the Google trial, but all agreed it would be a good idea to submit the paperwork for the trial.
"It's probably a long shot," Moon said, "but if you don't play, you have no chance of winning."
According to Google's Web site promotion of the test trials, "ultra high-speed bandwidth will drive more innovation - in high-definition video, remote data storage, real-time multimedia collaboration. It will enable new customer applications, as well as medical, education, and other services that can benefit communities."
Google announced Feb. 10 its intentions to build and test, in a small number of trial locations across the country, ultra high-broadwidth networks with speeds of 1 gigabyte per second and fiber-to-the-home connections. The networks would deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today.
Moon said the United States is 18th in the world when it comes to availability of high-speed Internet.
"We're behind Latvia," Moon said.
Google is looking for communities to partner with them in this project and Monroe could be the perfect community, he said.
- Times reporter
Tere Dunlap contributed to this story
People representing Green County Development Corporation, Green County Future Forward, Monroe Main Street and the City of Monroe discussed the necessary information Google would need to make Monroe a test site.
Steve Moon of Future Forward said the company would need to know such things as the city's demographics, why Google should choose Monroe and what facilities and resources Monroe has to attract the company.
Rob Jacobson was selected by the group to spearhead the effort for the group. He will work with city and county department heads to gather the information to present an application to Google, which must be submitted by March 26.
Google will use the application to assess such factors as the level of community support, local resources, weather conditions, approved construction methods and local regulatory issues. Google will select the trial locations later this year.
None of the people at the group could say with any certainty that Monroe would be selected as a test site for the Google trial, but all agreed it would be a good idea to submit the paperwork for the trial.
"It's probably a long shot," Moon said, "but if you don't play, you have no chance of winning."
According to Google's Web site promotion of the test trials, "ultra high-speed bandwidth will drive more innovation - in high-definition video, remote data storage, real-time multimedia collaboration. It will enable new customer applications, as well as medical, education, and other services that can benefit communities."
Google announced Feb. 10 its intentions to build and test, in a small number of trial locations across the country, ultra high-broadwidth networks with speeds of 1 gigabyte per second and fiber-to-the-home connections. The networks would deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today.
Moon said the United States is 18th in the world when it comes to availability of high-speed Internet.
"We're behind Latvia," Moon said.
Google is looking for communities to partner with them in this project and Monroe could be the perfect community, he said.
- Times reporter
Tere Dunlap contributed to this story