EoW March 2013

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Transatlantic cable
March 2013 31
The news reporter knows that cities and towns across the US
want cutting-edge broadband service to give them an edge
both domestically and internationally. And policy makers in
state houses as well as in Washington DC agree that building
next-generation broadband networks would help boost
economic development.
Moreover, the e ort has friends in high places. President Barack
Obama has talked up the importance of improving broadband
infrastructure, as has former President Bill Clinton in his
appearances before tech audiences. And Ms Reardon noted that,
recently, Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius
Genachowski stated a goal of getting gigabit-speed broadband
services to all 50 states by 2015.
But, according to a report cited by the FCC, so far only 42
communities across 14 states have ultra-high-speed broadband.
Google’s much publicised Kansas City project, in Missouri, is one.
Other initiatives for gigabit broadband services have been led
by local municipalities. Cities such as Lafayette, Louisiana, and
Chattanooga, Tennessee, are in the van of the municipal bre
movement. In Chattanooga, the FCC says, the bre network
deployed to 170,000 residences helped lure big companies like
Volkswagen and Amazon to the community, which has created
more than 3,700 new jobs over the past three years.
Now, Ms Reardon reported, the Gig U coalition of universities
that helps college towns across the US get wired with super-fast
broadband is taking a major step toward bringing gigabit speed
broadband networks to a larger constituency.
In February, Gig U announced that it has helped the North
Carolina Next Generation Network, a group made up six
communities and four universities – North Carolina State,
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Duke, and Wake Forest
– put together a request for proposals (RFP) for a project to
bring a next-generation broadband network to a large region of
the state. (“First Steps Taken to Build Gigabit Network in North
Carolina,” 1st February).
† Gig U and the NC Next Generation Network are hoping
that their RFP will attract both existing and new broadband
providers to bid on building and running a network that will
o er broadband download speeds of at least 1 Gbps. A 2nd
April deadline was set for the proposals, and – presuming
all goes well – service under the plan will be o ered within
18 months.
Ms Reardon wrote: “The hope is that this regional high-speed
network will bring many bene ts to the community,
including advances in telemedicine, distance learning, and
new industries that will create new jobs. Gig U, which was
started two years ago, has already helped raise more than
$200 million in private investment for these new networks.
So far, Gig U has helped jump-start two major projects with
the help of an initiative called Gigabit Squared. In Seattle
and Chicago, Gigabit Squared is spearheading projects with
the University of Washington and University of Chicago,
respectively, to bring super high-speed broadband to parts
of these cities.
† But the e ort in North Carolina will be the largest network
project facilitated through Gig U to date. It will cover at
least four cities in the Triangle Park area of North Carolina
including Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and
Winston Salem.
Dorothy Fabian – USA Editor