Some U.S. towns have resorted to publicity stunts, from a town changing its name to Google to a mayor jumping into Lake Superior, to entice Google to lay high-speed Internet cable for free.
But Chapel Hill, Carrboro and UNC may not be resorting to those tactics to supplement their application for Google’s experimental fiber-optic cable offer.
But those at a joint meeting Monday said the towns still have something else to offer — the fact that they are already building a fiber-optic system.
Cities vie for Google
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro
community isn’t alone in its effort to be recognized as a good place for Google to lay fiber:-The mayor of Topeka, Kan. temporarily changed the name of the city to “Google, Kansas — the city of fiber optics.”
-The mayor of Duluth, Minn., jumped into 35-degree Lake Superior for publicity and joked that first-born children would be renamed Google and Googlette Fiber.
-Highlands Ranch, Colo., will form a human “We love Google” sign.
-Residents of Greenville, S.C., will make the world’s “first and longest” Google chain powered by people holding glow sticks at night downtown.
-Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo has offered to skydive to get Google’s attention.
The local coalition has until March 26 to submit a 26-page application to Google, which announced in February it will choose one or more cities to test a network more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to.
Public interest will be a key factor in deciding which locations will receive the network.
But Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt said town residents have the enthusiasm required to woo Google.
“There’s an energy on the street,” he said. “We can use the ideas that have bubbled up to the surface and have been inspired by this opportunity.”
Council member Laurin Easthom said the town has entertained the idea of providing municipal broadband for years, with interest stemming from a forum four years ago.
As a result, pilot Wi-Fi projects were installed around town.
Will Raymond, a software engineer and entrepreneur, said the need for change in the town’s Internet capabilities has been building.
He cited Time Warner Cable and AT&T as monopolies that have not delivered on their end of the telecommunications bargain.
“Why is everyone so excited about this?” Raymond said. “Our current telecommunications act has let us down recently.”
Several factors could increase the Chapel Hill area’s appeal to Google executives.
The town is already working with the N.C. Division of Transportation to lay fiber, which could be used by Google as a part of the trial program.
“We don’t have fancy promotions or celebrities,” Easthom said. “What makes us unique is that we are shovel-ready. We are laying a fiber-optic backbone, and we are ready.”
Carolina North, UNC’s satellite campus, could also make the area’s development attractive, said David Knowles, the director of economic development for the Renaissance Computing Institute. He said high-definition broadcasts of lectures or performances could enhance the student experience.
Juancarlos Aponte, a 2009 UNC graduate who lives in the area, said the experimental Wi-Fi network could be a good mechanism for unemployed residents like himself to run businesses from home.
The system could bolster an area that is already a kind of “Silicon Valley of the East,” he said.
Anyone can go to the town or Google Web site to complete a survey or nominate the town, said Ken Pennoyer, the town’s business management director. He said people can also join the Facebook group, which had nearly 1,000 members as of Monday night.
And until Google makes its decisions, residents will just have to keep voicing their support.
“I’m here to say, ‘Do it,’” said Joe Capowski, a former council member. “Let’s let Google do it, and let’s let Google pay for it.”
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
