Rob Jacobson, chairman of Monroe's Ad Hoc Technology Advisory Committee, has a busy three weeks in front of him, but he won't be going it alone.
On Feb. 24, a group of citizens and representatives of Green County Development Corporation, Green County Future Forward, Monroe Main Street and the City of Monroe, chose Jacobson to head up an effort to build a solid resume to send Internet (and global business) giant Google in the hopes of making the city a test location for the company's new ultra-highspeed Internet access.
On Feb. 10, Google announced plans to build and test ultra-high bandwidth broadband Internet networks in a small number of trial locations across the country. The network offers "fiber-to-the-home" connections that would deliver speeds of 1 gigabyte per second. Applications for the communities desiring to take part are due March 26.
While the result of his efforts will be great, the help Jacobson will receive from area groups, citizens and governmental departments could be, in the long run, just as beneficial to the community as the proposed test site.
Jacobson has been charged with gathering local demographic information for the application, in addition to fulfilling application requirements Google lists such as, community support, local resources, weather conditions, approved construction methods and local regulatory issues. The company said it will announce which cities will be chosen later this year.
All of the information Jacobson must collect will come from city departments and community groups, and it would be enough if Jacobson had only one application to consider, but the groups are planning to file two applications to bolster the city's chances of success. One for the city and another for the community.
Making all of this work happen in a matter of weeks will require tremendous teamwork from several groups that don't always see things the same.
We applaud this effort. Even if it fails, the groups involved are attempting to reach a common goal. Hopefully they will learn that the process can be used again.
The merits of the Google project are still to be determined. Will the technology cost too much for residents in this area to take advantage of during the trial period, assuming it wouldn't be free? Will the construction headaches be too great for residents to tolerate? Will the technology even work with computers many of area residents own? Aside from all of these questions, will the current cable Internet provider in the area find a way to block the test network location? Remember the media battle over AT&T invading Wisconsin and the fight the current cable provider put up?
No matter what the outcome, the lesson of cooperation and teamwork learned by the community in this effort to swoon Google could be a positive one.
On Feb. 24, a group of citizens and representatives of Green County Development Corporation, Green County Future Forward, Monroe Main Street and the City of Monroe, chose Jacobson to head up an effort to build a solid resume to send Internet (and global business) giant Google in the hopes of making the city a test location for the company's new ultra-highspeed Internet access.
On Feb. 10, Google announced plans to build and test ultra-high bandwidth broadband Internet networks in a small number of trial locations across the country. The network offers "fiber-to-the-home" connections that would deliver speeds of 1 gigabyte per second. Applications for the communities desiring to take part are due March 26.
While the result of his efforts will be great, the help Jacobson will receive from area groups, citizens and governmental departments could be, in the long run, just as beneficial to the community as the proposed test site.
Jacobson has been charged with gathering local demographic information for the application, in addition to fulfilling application requirements Google lists such as, community support, local resources, weather conditions, approved construction methods and local regulatory issues. The company said it will announce which cities will be chosen later this year.
All of the information Jacobson must collect will come from city departments and community groups, and it would be enough if Jacobson had only one application to consider, but the groups are planning to file two applications to bolster the city's chances of success. One for the city and another for the community.
Making all of this work happen in a matter of weeks will require tremendous teamwork from several groups that don't always see things the same.
We applaud this effort. Even if it fails, the groups involved are attempting to reach a common goal. Hopefully they will learn that the process can be used again.
The merits of the Google project are still to be determined. Will the technology cost too much for residents in this area to take advantage of during the trial period, assuming it wouldn't be free? Will the construction headaches be too great for residents to tolerate? Will the technology even work with computers many of area residents own? Aside from all of these questions, will the current cable Internet provider in the area find a way to block the test network location? Remember the media battle over AT&T invading Wisconsin and the fight the current cable provider put up?
No matter what the outcome, the lesson of cooperation and teamwork learned by the community in this effort to swoon Google could be a positive one.
