Triangle health care, software development could be impacted by Google Fiber

Carrboro and Chapel Hill might soon be among the few U.S. cities with access to some of the highest-speed Internet in the country — technology that could change the face of health services and software development in the area.

Last month, Google announced it might bring fiber-optic networking to 34 cities for internet and television service as part of its "Google Fiber":http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2014/02/google-fiber-might-reach-chapel-hill project.

“If we get to be one of these regions, we’ll be able to see the future of the Internet first,” said Ted Zoller, the director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Zoller said Google is currently the only company in the country able to provide Internet service 100 times faster than broadband companies like Comcast, something he said could greatly benefit research at UNC.

He said this would vastly improve data processing, providing the opportunity to create more complex software and even to advance healthcare services in the region.

“You can get almost supercomputing functionality,” Zoller said. “We could actually solve huge human health problems, make next generation drugs, solve inefficient clinical processes.”

Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle said the towns will know in a few months if they are officially selected to receive Google Fiber’s technology and infrastructure.

“It’s an exciting opportunity, but we’re taking it slowly because we want to make sure what they’re bringing to us is right for our community,” she said.

She said the towns will need to determine whether they have the capacity to support the new infrastructure. The mayors and staff of the towns will meet with Google staff, who will perform a city study to examine factors necessary for construction of the new fiber-optic networks.

Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt said the towns hope to incorporate Google Fiber into their existing infrastructure.

“Chapel Hill has fiber in the ground that we installed when we upgraded our stop lights, so we’re hoping that’s going to be something that can facilitate this,” he said.

The town will then have to produce a fiber-ready checklist including information related to legal permits, planning and construction, due to Google by May 1.

Kleinschmidt said low-income residents will be able to easily access the fiber-optic network.

“Chapel Hill and Carrboro are leaders on advocating for service that bridges the digital divide,” he said. “We’re vigilant in advocating for everyone to have access to information infrastructure.”

In the three cities where Google Fiber is already up and running, like Kansas City, Mo., its lower-speed service is free to residents, provided they pay a $300 charge for construction. The construction charge is payable as a lump sum or in installments.

The cost of high-speed service — $70 per month — is comparable to or lower than high-speed plans currently provided by broadband companies in the area, Kleinschmidt said.

Brian Russell is the chairman of Orange Networking, an organization that seeks to provide equal access to the Internet for all. He said town officials should be careful in allowing a private telecommunications company to use public infrastructure.

“If the town of Chapel Hill wanted to require that any (telecommunications company) using public fiber infrastructure must provide an affordable service to those who can’t pay for a market rate service, the town would have no legal recourse to do so,” he said in an email.“There is a long history in North Carolina of (telecommunications companies) making promises they do not keep.”

Zoller, who is a senior fellow at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, said Google Fiber’s presence there drew dozens of new developers and entrepreneurs, culminating in the creation of an entrepreneurial hub called Kansas City Startup Village.

“We could become a very cool place to build software and media products,” he said.

Chris Kielt, chief information officer at UNC, said a switch to Google Fiber would supplement an existing movement in North Carolina to be on the cutting edge of technology.

“You have an extraordinary concentration of great communities here — the Triangle is an area of innovation,” he said. “We have an extraordinary amount of technology and entrepreneurial activity going on here. Plus we have extraordinary universities that are doing great research.”

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