600 communities vie for Google's Gbps Fiber-to-the-home program

Google's 1 Gbps network fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) experiment has attracted more than 600 communities that want to enhance their respective networks with fiber-based broadband access services.

To win Google's broadband heart, community officials have engaged in a number of lobbying efforts. Topeka, Kan.'s mayor renamed his city "Google" during the month of March, while the mayor of Duluth, Minn., "threw himself into the ice-ringed waters of Lake Superior."

"We're thrilled to see this kind of excitement, and we want to humbly thank each and every community and individual for taking the time to participate," James Kelly, Google's product manager wrote in a company blog. "This enthusiasm is much bigger than Google and our experimental network. If one message has come through loud and clear, it's this: people across the country are hungry for better and faster Internet access."

However, these communities are going to have to wait until the end of the year after the company's own rigorous review reveals where it will build out its open access FTTH network.

Of course, the lingering question with Google's experiment is how they are going to make it work? While the experiment is centered on fulfilling the FCC's "100 Squared" broadband initiative, Google has literally no experience in building out a complex communications network other than operating a small wireless network in Mountainview, Calif.

For more:
- Multichannel News has this article
- Bloomberg also has this article

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