Google recently announced that it plans to advance a high-speed Internet connection, and city councilors are proposing that Long Beach gets involved.
Google announced Feb. 10 that it plans to build and test a new high-speed broadband network in trial locations across the country. Google has asked government officials and members of the public to nominate their communities to participate in the test.
“Being chosen would put the message out that Long Beach is serious about being a leader in technology,” said Daniel Brezenoff, legislative director to City Councilor Robert Garcia, who suggested Long Beach’s involvement. Brezenoff added that “it makes Long Beach a more attractive place to be.”
The proposal is co-sponsored by city councilors Val Lerch and Dee Andrews.
According to a press release from Garcia, this is an opportunity for Long Beach to provide faster Internet service to its residents, help close the digital divide, and raise the city’s profile.
Anywhere between 50,000 to 500,000 people in the U.S. would test the new system.
If Long Beach is chosen, the test market won’t directly affect CSULB and residents are not required to participate.
To be considered, cities have until March 26 to submit applications with information about the city’s existing networks. Though a date for the decision has yet to be finalized, Google plans to announce its test site later this year.
Google plans to deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, one gigabit per second.
“We are advanced in the development of high-speed networks and [this] would be good news for Long Beach residents,” said Steve La, director of network services at CSULB. “The current highest Internet connection speed offered by Verizon via FIOS for Long Beach residents is around 15 to 30 megabits per second.”
Google’s vision of the future of Internet includes live streaming 3-D medical images from rural health clinics to specialized medical centers or downloading full-length movies in minutes to be common and accessible.
A Google representative wrote on the company’s blog that “you just don’t know how [higher-speed Internet] will change your use of the Internet, and your life, until you’ve tried it.”