Wooing Google | Maine tries to entice the search engine giant to test high-speed network here
Towns all across the country are trying anything to win the heart of America’s leading search engine company, Google. The mayor of Sarasota, Fla., jumped into a pool of sharks and Topeka, Kan., temporarily changed its name to Google. They are among hundreds of communities vying to be guinea pigs in Google’s plan to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks to provide faster Internet service across the nation. By the application deadline on March 26, 1,100 municipalities across the country had thrown their hats in the ring, according to the Washington Post.
Maine has joined the fray. The city of Portland and a collaboration among Lewiston-Auburn and towns in western Maine are trying to persuade the Silicon Valley-based company to build one of its experimental computer networks in their areas.
Google plans to deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what’s currently available at a competitive price to a market of between 50,000 to 500,000 people. According to Paul Badeau of the L-A Economic Growth Council, local officials shied away from outrageous stunts, instead opting to shoot videos of local folks, including preschoolers, senior citizens and the MAINEiacs hockey players, in a pitch to Google about why they deserve the high-speed Internet connection.
“We’ll even get some cats and dogs, too,” Badeau told the Sun Journal. The growth council is also trying to get Facebook users to join its “Google Fiber for LA and Western Maine” group to round up support. As of press time, the group had 855 members.
Portland s taking a more subdued approach, banking on a well-written application. “I really hope Google is making a decision based on the merits of the application and not whether people are jumping into bodies of water,” Portland City Councilor John Anton told the Portland Press Herald.
Google says it will pick the lucky applicants by the end of the year.
Kayla Collins
Mainebiz web partners
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