Last weekend, I discovered that some fellow New Orleans “techies” started a new coalition named NOLAFiber.  The purpose of the coalition is to complete an application for Google’s “Request For Information” (RIF).   Through the RIF, the search engine giant is seeking interested municipalities to test drive its fiber-to-the-home connections.    

According to Google, between 50,000 and 500,000 people would be able to use super- high-speed Internet at a competitive price.   The speeds would be approximately 100 times faster than those speeds currently available.  The coalition hopes Google selects New Orleans.    

At least one other Louisiana city, Baton Rouge, is participating in this broadband competition RIF.  

On Sunday, according to an editorial in the Duluth Tribune News, Duluth-Superior already has more than 4,500 Google-Fiber Initiative Facebook friends.  The column says Topeka, Kan., has 7,856 friends, followed by Peoria, Ill., Baton Rouge, La. (2,389 friends) and Greensboro, N.C. (2,294 friends).   The Duluth paper equated that city’s possible landing of the initiative with the economic boost that occurred in that city when in 1907, US Steel agreed to open up a plant.     

Small, medium and large cities are looking at the Google initiative as the way to really jumpstart their respective economies.   

This week, I witnessed how quickly NOLAFiber has acquired followers.  The enthusiasm of those involved is simply contagious.  Many are now contributing their time, skills and talents to assist convincing Google to choose New Orleans.   

A national contest is now emerging where US cities are striving to be the “Google poster-child”.  In effect, the RIF is a brilliant public-relations coup for Google since many cities are feverishly organizing and competing.    

Due to NOLAFiber’s efforts, over the past week, important New Orleans organizations, city leaders and elected officials have jumped on board.  Even movie-maker Spike Lee has agreed to lend his support to the city’s effort.   

Whether New Orleans gets to the “Super Bowl of Internet Champions” is uncertain.   But, if the NOLAFiber experience is representative of what might be occurring in communities nationwide, the Google challenge has unleashed combustions of enthusiasm and civic pride absolutely necessary for any city to achieve such a victory

Join NOLAFiber
Become aNOLAFiber Facebook friend

Read a segment of the article by NewOrleanstech.net, called:

New Orleans Wants to be a Variable in Google’s Gigabit Internet Experiment

Google announced February 10th on “The Official Google Blog” that it plans on conducting an experiment that will bring gigabyte fiber-to-the-home to select towns across the United States and has made an open request for information (RFI) to interested municipalities . Google’s goal is  to deliver fiber-to-the-home connections to between 50,000 and 500,000 people at a competitive price. According to a 2009 reportSpeed Matters, a project of the produced by 

The Big G

Communications Workers of America (CWA) Union, the United States ranks 28th worldwide in average Internet connection speeds and 15th in Internet adoption among industrialized nations. Louisiana’s average download speed registered at 6.3mbps. While slightly faster than the nations average speed of 5.1mbps Louisiana’s  revealed a significant digital-divide in high speed Internet connections.

What does this all mean?

It means that things that are impossible now under today’s infrastructure will be possible with connection speeds almost 100 times faster in some places than those currently available. The connections speeds will allow application developers, and content creators in the recipient municipality to operate on the cutting edge of technology. Developers and content creators would be able to develop “bandwith-intensive ‘killer apps’ and services, or other uses we can’t yet imagine,” says Google.

It means potential jobs for the near 7-percent unemployed in New Orleans. As Google “test new ways to build fiber networks, and support deployments elsewhere” according to their website. Google will need labour to deploy the fiber and personnel familiar with the deployment process to aid in future roll out.
Competitively priced high speed Internet means improvements to health care, education, government,environment, and digital literacy.

How would New Orleans Benefit?

New Orleans has been earning some well deserved attention, prior to the Saints Superbowl berth, for its flourishing tech and digital media community. Many people in the new media, developer, and online social networking community have visited New Orleans and left impressed by a tech community seasoned with southern hospitality. Amidst a

TribeCon Brought Together Tech Figures From Around The Country

recession New Orleans has attracted the SIGGRAPHconference, Ignite, and Tribe Con. New Orleans will host Microsoft’s TechEd Conference in June of 2010. All this should make New Orleans all the more attractive to Google.
Pair Google’s fiber with the $474 million awarded to rebuild Charity Hospital and there is potential for one of the most robust public medical facilities in the country. Charity could potentially have the ability to transmit medical data in real time removing geographical barriers between patients and specialist diminishing the time consuming and costly need for patient transfer.

Schools would benefit from the availability of high speed broadband service. It would allow students to remotely access high-volume data files, virtually attend lectures, and participate in foreign class share programs. Beyond that public school system would have the ability, with funding, to operate advanced computer and media classes. Louisiana’s eduction system ranks 46th in the nation according to U.S. Dept. of Education. Access to high speed Internet at home and in the classroom would be a value added to the students who have traditionally suffered from the digital-divide.