CITY OF TALLAHASSEE NEWS RELEASE:

Google, the California-based Internet search engine giant, recently announced an initiative to develop its own ultra-high speed broadband network. To determine the level of interest from communities throughout the nation, Google will test the service in several U.S. cities. Because of the vast economic development potential for the community from this proposal, the City of Tallahassee and several community partners are considering taking part in the initiative.

As part of this effort, Tallahassee Mayor John Marks and City Commissioner Gil Ziffer will meet tomorrow, March 2, with Sergio Pinon with E-Layaway and Alan Hanstein with Paragon New Media. Pinon and Hanstein are assisting in the local community involvement component of the application process. The meeting will take place at 1:30 p.m. in the City Commission Office conference room on the fourth floor of City Hall, 300 S. Adams St.

Commissioner Ziffer and Mayor Marks discussed Google’s broadband initiative at this morning's Economic Development Target Issue Committee meeting, and a recommendation on taking part in the RFI process will be coming to the full City Commission at their March 10 meeting.

Google’s proposed network would provide users with Internet service at speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today – via one gigabyte per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. For the trial phase, the company plans to offer the service to at least 50,000 people and perhaps up to 500,000, likely in several different communities.

Google is asking cities to formally submit a Request for Information (RFI) to be part of the trial, with the company building test networks in the ‘winning’ cities. The RFI, due March 26, includes questions regarding existing networking infrastructure, local economic development and overall community demographic information, permitting and regulatory issues and the community’s existing Internet resources.

Commissioner Ziffer first brought the issue to the City Commission for consideration, and two meetings have been held thus far to determine community interest. The first meeting, primarily including City personnel, featured an overall discussion of the Google initiative and the formal RFI process. The second meeting included a large and diverse group of community leaders who could potentially partner with the City on the application process, including representatives from local information technology companies, universities, media outlets, health care officials, Leon County Schools and others. This group continues to work on the broadband initiative, which does not obligate the City to any financial commitments.