In early February 2010, I learned of the Google Fiber Initiative and pushed for the City of Dunwoody to apply but based on Google’s requested city size to complete the application, the City of Dunwoody would need to partner with neighboring cities in order to meet the minimum requirements. I brainstormed and saw a joint application with Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Chamblee & Doraville being a very viable one and posted my thoughts on my blog of February 11, 2010 entitled Imagine the top end of Atlanta as a technology hub tied together with the fastest internet. Let's ask Google to help make it happen.
From there the City Manager and City Staff took my request seriously and started talking to our neighboring cities. In the end, I believe that Sandy Springs was big enough to submit a single application therefore Dunwoody then partnered with Decatur, Avondale Estates, Chamblee and Doraville as well as Emory University and Georgia Power on the final application submission under the name “Atlanta Urban Area Partnership for Google”.
Besides the application which was submitted along with Resolutions of Support from each of the participating cities, a video was produced and submitted along with the application and it is shown below.
I know that ultra-high speed internet service will be the future life blood of a community and that businesses and tech savvy individuals would be drawn to that infrastructure. Besides Google Fiber, I have pushed for other expanded internet options like UVerse which is Fiber to the Neighborhood (Node) vs Google’s plan which is to complete the last mile and go Fiber to the Home.
Today Google announced that the Atlanta area is in the running for the next wave of investment and in doing so named eight surrounding municipalities by name but did not specifically include the City of Dunwoody, even though we were in direct partnership with several of the cities that were specifically named. My guess is that Google is ready to start with any viable area in the Atlanta market and I can tell you that the City of Dunwoody is ready, willing and able to complete the next stage of the process in working with the provider to bring the service to our community.
From the moment that Google announced possible expansion cities, my inbox was lit up with information as to why the City of Dunwoody was not named and if I could summarize the collective message of those inquiries it would be "Google Fiber, I want my high speed access !!"
If you are interested in this project, please do me two favors. First go to this link and click the blue CHECK ADDRESS box or the blue GET UPDATES box to register your address as being interested in the service; second if you are a Facebook user, please go to the “Atlanta Urban Area Partnership for Google” page and like it for future updates.
The City of Dunwoody is reaching out to Google as to specifics and we look forward to working with them in the very near future.
Hi Councilman Heneghan,
ReplyDeleteI read thru the Google application when it was first made available and it raised some interesting questions regarding viability of a Dunwoody bid. I am glad to see that bid was submitted.
Are the details of that submission available to folks in the communities that comprise the bidding entities? I did not see an obvious link on the Atlanta Urban Area Partnership for Google Facebook page. I would be interested in the details of the bid.
Thanks.
Thank you for the update and the information, John. This sounds like an exciting opportunity.
ReplyDelete..and why would you want half of Atlanta's most vibrant business area (PCID) to have Fiber and the other half not? Or the people who live-work-play there?
ReplyDeleteThere are long-haul fiber pipelines buried under our city.
It makes sense that the two cities should partner on a proposal.
Hello, State Farm? :-)
I heard from a neighbor in the gaming industry just last week that Google Fiber would be coming to Dunwoody and then I received my email last night leaving Dunwoody off the list. I was shocked and sent an email back to Google Fiber immediately. We need competition for Comcast which for now is the ONLY option for high speed internet.
ReplyDeleteNot to appear as the town Luddite, but how about if we repair our local roads before we enhance our information highway?
ReplyDeleteMy apologies to Mister Bob Dylan - "Oh, mama...can this really...be the end? To be stuck inside of my auto-Mobile with the Dunwoody pothole blues again!"
Thank you John Heneghan!
ReplyDeleteNew resident to Dunwoody here, and I'm disappointed we were left out of the google Fiber release as well. In my humble opinion there are some factors that are within the council's purview that can be done to encourage investment in Fiber to the Home initiatives. The city should adopt dig once policy and install ubiquitous fiber conduit along the right of way. This would only increase road maintenance by less that 1%, but reduce the service provider cost by as much as 90%. It would also mean less disruption to drivers in the community. A streamlined permitting process would also be simple and encourage investment. These and other simple changes would encourage Gigabit to the home investments from not only google, but Comcast, AT&T, etc.
ReplyDeleteThank you or the info! Make sure you are supporting local businesses in an effort to further this cause!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dentistsindoraville.com/
I have shared your blog post on Facebook. Thanks for letting us know. Checked my address in Dunwoody, no go.
ReplyDeleteGreat, Comcast needs to get some competition.
ReplyDelete