Fiber For Our Future - Due to bots, send an email to info @ tricitybroadband.com to register a new user account. We hope to have this issue resolved soon.

bigdog99 YaBB Newbies Posts: 1 Gender:	Google Fiber-to-the-Home experiment Feb 10^th, 2010, 1:10pm Google is looking for communities where they can build a fiber to the home network: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/think-big-with-gig-our-experimental.html
Back to top	IP Logged

Annie Collins YaBB Administrator Better is good for everyone! Posts: 816 Gender:	Re: Google Fiber-to-the-Home experiment Reply #1 - Feb 10^th, 2010, 2:35pm I was just going to post a link to an article about this! Do you think any of our communities around here would embrace this idea now? Thoughts people?
Back to top	IP Logged

psennett

YaBB Newbies

Yo!

Posts: 20
Gender: male

Re: Google Fiber-to-the-Home experiment
Reply #2 - Feb 10^th, 2010, 3:26pm

I'm sending in a nomination for the TriCities. All they can say is no. My "Why should Google build a fiber network where you live" statement:

"Our area is poorly served by our existing internet service providers, AT&T (DSL) and Comcast (cable). Those two companies spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat public referendum on FTTH (http://www.tricitybroadband.com/), and now AT&T is slowly rolling out U-Verse, claiming it is fiber but in reality it's a blend of fiber to the junction plus DSL. True FTTH is not in our future here, and 40+ % of the public was in favor of it (the difference between passage and failure of the referendum was the direct mail and cable advertising deluge, from Trojan Horse citizen groups of AT&T and Comcast employees). So I think our area (St Charles, Geneva, Batavia) have proven interest in FTTH, and will likely not get it unless somebody comes in here and ignores the monolithic corporate opposition."

Back to top

IP Logged

TJF

YaBB Newbies

Fiber is part of a
balanced diet.

Posts: 49
Gender: male

Re: Google Fiber-to-the-Home experiment
Reply #3 - Feb 10^th, 2010, 3:27pm

Annie,

I for one think it's a great opportunity. We should at least apply and see if we can qualify. Citizens can nominate their communities and they would like city officials to apply as well. They would probably prefer city officials, but we should at least do the citizen nomnation for the Tri-Cities. Ed would be eminently qualified to do that and I sent him a link to the application site. I think he may want to apply for the Tri-Cities as a group and not just Batavia. I don't know what the Google service will eventually cost, but Google says they will be competitive. We might even get a deal as a beta test site. At least we could get the backbone built out. Anyway, it can't hurt to look into it further.

Terry Flanagan

Back to top

IP Logged

psennett

YaBB Newbies

Yo!

Posts: 20
Gender: male

Re: Google Fiber-to-the-Home experiment
Reply #4 - Feb 10^th, 2010, 3:29pm

I don't know if the number of nominations will affect the outcome, but perhaps so. At any rate, someone at the municipal level (ahem, anybody know anybody who works for one of these municipalities?) will have to complete an official nomination at http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/options.

Or not.

Patrick

Back to top

IP Logged

psennett YaBB Newbies Yo! Posts: 20 Gender:	Re: Google Fiber-to-the-Home experiment Reply #5 - Feb 10^th, 2010, 3:32pm BTW, I did not represent myself as representing this organization, only linked to the website for reference to our eternal struggles against the hobnail boot of corporate oppression. Patrick
Back to top	IP Logged

TJF

YaBB Newbies

Fiber is part of a
balanced diet.

Posts: 49
Gender: male

Re: Google Fiber-to-the-Home experiment
Reply #6 - Feb 10^th, 2010, 4:31pm

Google is also looking at new uses and applications that these kinds of speeds will allow. Whoever submits an application should maybe note that this kind of bandwidth opens up the possibilty of telemetry applications that can be used for pulic safety. For example, we can monitor homes for explosive gases, carbon monoxide, dangerously low temperatures, water in basements, etc. We can have intelligent electric, gas, and water meters that allow remote reading. We can monitor plants for chemical leaks (think Burgess-Norton). We can do noise level monitoring for those sensitive types who are always complaining about noise. We could have smart IP controlled switches for automatic cycling of power during peak usage periods, which would allow much more precise access than radio controlled switches used by many power companies today. Google has even introduced it's own smart meter that you can use to monitor electricity usage in your home. The possibilities are endless.

Back to top

IP Logged

psennett

YaBB Newbies

Yo!

Posts: 20
Gender: male

Re: Google Fiber-to-the-Home experiment
Reply #7 - Feb 10^th, 2010, 4:39pm

Quote from TJF on Feb 10^th, 2010, 4:31pm:

Google is also looking at new uses and applications that these kinds of speeds will allow. Whoever submits an application should maybe note that this kind of bandwidth opens up the possibilty of telemetry applications that can be used for pulic safety. For example, we can monitor homes for explosive gases, carbon monoxide, dangerously low temperatures, water in basements, etc. We can have intelligent electric, gas, and water meters that allow remote reading. We can monitor plants for chemical leaks (think Burgess-Norton). We can do noise level monitoring for those sensitive types who are always complaining about noise. We could have smart IP controlled switches for automatic cycling of power during peak usage periods, which would allow much more precise access than radio controlled switches used by many power companies today. Google has even introduced it's own smart meter that you can use to monitor electricity usage in your home. The possibilities are endless.

Well, to be honest, some of the things you mentioned are reasons I wouldn't like to have the government involved (Big Bro monitoring my thermostat), but those things would certainly appeal to the folks at Google, so I agree they should be put into any official proposal.

Back to top

IP Logged

TJF

YaBB Newbies

Fiber is part of a
balanced diet.

Posts: 49
Gender: male

Re: Google Fiber-to-the-Home experiment
Reply #8 - Feb 11^th, 2010, 1:03am

We've had some people asking about a smart power grid in Geneva. A smart grid allows the power company to power cycle customer equipment during peak power usage and in some cases sell excess power back to the power company. Customers participate in these energy saving proograms voluntarily and get a refund from the power company for being part of the program. Typically, power companies attach devices to equipment such as air conditioners. The devices receive radio signals to power cycle the equipment. These smart switches could be even smarter using IP connections to not only precisely control attached devices, but also to monitor thermostats to keep temperatures in an acceptable range. Customers would be able to set parameters and opt out on occasion. For example, if you were having a lot of guests for a party, you might not want the power company to cycle down your air conditioning. Any monitoring and control would have to be voluntary and flexible. You might choose to have the temperature in your home monitored along with your smoke alarms so that the fire department could dispatch equipment to your house if the temperature rises to an abnormal level and/or the smoke alarms detect smoke. That way you don't return to find your home burned to the ground. The OnStar system used in many automobiles is a perfect example of a monitoring system that can save lives. Any monitoring systems used for public safety would have to be intalled on a voluntary basis and most likely at the homeowner's expense and we would have to make the system as unobtrusive as possible. I think the life-saving potential of these systems may outweigh privacy concerns, at least for some people. We can make our homes smarter and safer and that's part of the promise of high-speed Internet.

Back to top

IP Logged

Annie Collins

YaBB Administrator

Better is good for
everyone!

Posts: 816
Gender: female

Re: Google Fiber-to-the-Home experiment
Reply #9 - Feb 12^th, 2010, 1:15pm

Gentlemen,

Wonderful to hear your comments, and thank you for sending nominations in to Google.

I wanted to let you know that I have also submitted an application in to Google. I second everything you have said here and know all about what a fiber network could mean for the Tri-Cities. The arguments for why we should have Google build a network here are sound ones. We used many of these same arguments at the time of the referendum as well if you remember waaaaay back when.

I believe all three cities should be nominated together. IMO, we have a much better chance of winning any bid as three cities who own their own electric utilities and are essentially right next to each other. The population we have together is better for testing than a smaller town. We (Fiber For Our Future) have always presented all three cities as a one-package deal in the past. No one should be ashamed of what we tried to do in the past. We would've been on the cutting edge back then. The incumbents just terrified the residents too much, and there was not enough money on our side to fight them. There also was not enough political will.

Past referendums were not passed because of the FUD campaigns launched by the incumbents. Fiber For Our Future was the FIRST organization in the country to fully document and create a website (www.tricitybroadband.com) dedicated to showing the nation and those around the world what lengths incumbents will go through, and how much they will spend, to squash competition. Newpapers have been written about our plight. Magazines have printed our story. Lectures have been given at conferences about what to do and not do when citizen groups or munis put referendums on ballots in hopes of building fiber networks, and the list goes on and on. The money and time spent to defeat our referendums was enormous!! We give advice and tips to others around the country - free of charge. We want citizens and munis to "be prepared" to fight for the right to provide services to their communities. I'm extremely proud of the work we have done. We did this together. Thank you all.

Let's show Google our fighting spirit. Let's show them we mean business. We fought hard for a fiber network back then and we are willing to fight for one now.

Back to top

IP Logged

TJF

YaBB Newbies

Fiber is part of a
balanced diet.

Posts: 49
Gender: male

Re: Google Fiber-to-the-Home experiment
Reply #10 - Feb 17^th, 2010, 9:53am

The one difference this time is that we can and should have the full support of the Tri-City city councils. They officially had to remain neutral for the referendum. Now we need their full-throated support because Google is looking for locations that will not throw up a lot of red tape for the test. We need the municipalities to issue whatever permits are necessary and we need the cities's full cooperation with Google to get this project done correctly. The fact that we have a citizen group that helped promote the broadband project is a plus, but we need the backing of the city councils and we need them to file a joint application to Google as well. There are numerous questions on the municipal applications that need to be addressed. Hopefully, we can get the support of the cities. Otherwise, I don't think we'll get anywhere with Google. It might be helpful to send email to your city council reps and your city administrators. It doesn't hurt for them to authorize an application. Whether or not the cities actually participate will be up to a council vote and ultimately Google's decision. But we need them to at least apply to show there is some intent on their part.

Back to top

IP Logged