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By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
The
Hood River City Council is hoping that residents will soon be able
to upload and download information on their computers at
ultra-high speeds.
The
elected body is applying to become one of the first communities in
the nation to host a trial service by Google; a service that would
bring 1 Gigabit per second internet speed capability directly to
area homes. According to Google, that speed is about 100 times
faster than what most Americans have access to today.
“This
service would really benefit high-tech employees who are
telecommuting; and encourage more commercial growth,” said Mayor
Arthur Babitz.
On
Monday, Dave Russell of Summit Projects in
Hood
River briefed the
council on the experimental program. He said Google — one of the
most popular web search engines in the world — was taking
applications from government agencies interested in becoming a
test site.
He
said a small number of trial locations would be chosen across the
United States
— and he believed that Hood
River
should “throw its hat in the ring.”
“It’s
significant; it’s huge, actually,” said Russell about the capacity
of the ultra-high speed possibilities that would open up for
Internet subscribers.
He
compared the significance of the new delivery system with the
invention of the telegraph 200 years ago. He said people in that
time period were able to connect for the first time across great
distances, and people today would have almost an almost unlimited
way to make that connection.
“We’re
at the same crossroads right now with the Internet,” said Russell.
He
said Google would work with local service providers to make
fiber-to-the-home connections. Residents would then be offered a
“competitive price” for the service that would allow them to
greatly expand their cyber horizons.
For
example, Russell said a real-time feed of activities at the
waterfront could be streamed 24/7 to anyone interested in
watching. He said sensors could be placed at the base of every
tree in the city to reflect the water and nutrition levels so
people would know what care was needed.
Russell said local church services, agency meetings and other
gatherings could be watched from the comfort of an individual’s
living room.
“This
is a free opportunity and all you have to do is fill out an
application,” said Russell.
The
council decided to submit an online application and wait for a
decision by Google, expected later this year.
“The
exposure for businesses would be quite impressive,” said Babitz.
Google
plans to offer ultra-speed service to between 50,000 and 500,000
people in multiple communities. The company wants to test market
the added speed to determine whether there is a market to expand
its delivery system.
“We
want to see what developers and users can do with
ultra-high-speeds, whether it’s creating new bandwidth-intensive
‘killer apps’ and services, or other uses we can’t yet imagine,”
states a Google posting on the program.
The
city has until March 26 to submit its application.
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