Ann Arbor City Council joins effort to woo Google fiber project
Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje listens during a public hearing at the Ann Arbor City Council meeting Monday night as residents speak about efforts to convince Google to make Ann Arbor a site for its ultra-high speed broadband network at City Hall.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
“The city of Ann Arbor is 100 percent behind its response,” said Councilmember Christopher Taylor. “There is full buy-in. We encourage Google to look on us with favor.”
Google is asking for responses from communities interested in a fiber-optic network capable of Internet speeds up to 100 times faster than commercially available service.
University of Michigan Information Technology Service Department intern Rob Hoffman mans the camera as he interviews U-M student Jordan Schneider about why Ann Arbor should receive the Google Fiber project after an Ann Arbor City Council public hearing at City Hall Monday night.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
In addition to the city support, the University of Michigan has thrown its support behind the effort to get Google to town.
Thousands of Ann Arbor residents have joined a Facebook group urging the project to come to town.
Ann Arbor isn’t the only city interested in the project. Hundreds across the nation are making pitches, including Baltimore, which has appointed a “Google czar.”
But Ann Arbor has ties to Google beyond the office already here. Co-founder Larry Page is a 1995 graduate from U-M.
Monday night, the council unanimously passed a resolution stating Ann Arbor’s case.
The council also held a public hearing on the issue and listened to six speakers pledge their support.
Included in those speaking was Amin Ladha, the chief information officer for Washtenaw Community College, who said the college supports the move.
Amin Ladha, chief information officer for Washtenaw Community College, speaks during a public hearing Monday night in favor of bringing the Google ultra-high-speed network project to Ann Arbor.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
Also speaking were a couple of representatives from Ypsilanti, who said their city also supports Ann Arbor's efforts and they believe the project will help the entire region.
Google has said it would favor communities that stand out as places where Web activities and companies would flourish as a result of vastly improved Internet access.
David Jesse covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidjesse@annarbor.com or at 734-623-2534.
Comments
Moose
Fri, Mar 19, 2010 : 11:40 a.m.
Political donations anyone? More free advertising for Google
Ryan Munson
Wed, Mar 17, 2010 : 11:07 p.m.
This is an absolute must and need for our city!
GB
Tue, Mar 16, 2010 : 4:03 p.m.
This may or may not be a project to support.. Not having access to the business case "what am I to base a decision on". I guess we must trust the city council to tax us appropriately when it's time to pay.
Steve Hendel
Tue, Mar 16, 2010 : 10:39 a.m.
@Snapshot-where do you get your cost information?
snapshot
Tue, Mar 16, 2010 : 9:22 a.m.
What the city isn't telling the residents of Ann Arbor is what the cost will be to each and every resident for this "experiment". That's what it is. It will most benefit education and medical industries while every household will foot the cost of approximately $1,000 dollars per household. That cost is estimated and Google has assured to keep the cost as low as possible. The total cost is estimated at 75 million and the chosen city pays. Great marketing on Googles part.
a2grateful
Tue, Mar 16, 2010 : 9:22 a.m.
Steve Hendel: "Are tax breaks being considered?" Yes, for everyone except city residents and workers; )
xmo
Tue, Mar 16, 2010 : 8:50 a.m.
Let's hope that Ann Arbor (government and residents)doesn't treat Google the same way they treated AT&T when they brought the U-verse fiber optic system to the city. I recall that AT&T almost stop the deployment of it because of the crap from City Council.
Steve Hendel
Tue, Mar 16, 2010 : 8:42 a.m.
Before we all jump on the bandwagon-what, if anything, is Google expecting from the chosen city? Tax breaks, for instance?
GratefulReb
Tue, Mar 16, 2010 : 8:16 a.m.
I'm now very concerned that the city council is on board. The same council that blocks virtually everthing progressive is now behind this effort. I truly hope the city council can see this as a good thing for A2 and sit way back in the room with their hands down and comments to themselves.
sellers
Tue, Mar 16, 2010 : 8:04 a.m.
The Ann Arbor Computer Society is having a talk in April to discuss where Ann Arbor stands with the Google application and what it will mean to the Ann Arbor metro region. Visit http://www.computersociety.org or http://www.a2fiber.com for details. Encourage your surrounding community to join the support for A2Fiber. President - AACS
Steve Hendel
Tue, Mar 16, 2010 : 7:25 a.m.
Are tax breaks being considered?
rreidannarbor
Tue, Mar 16, 2010 : 7:06 a.m.
March 26 is the deadline for submission. It sounds like we are a week ahead of schedule with a very good unified response. It's good to see a truly collaborative town/gown approach to the RFP response. I hope its a winner. Michigan, not just A2 would benefit from this. No other state needs it more!