Fed up with your slow internet connection? Want to show off your Buffalo pride? Take part in the Buffalo Google Rally, taking place on Wednesday, March 24 from 5pm-6pm outside of the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. This is the last chance that Buffalo residents will have to show their support for the proposed Google Fiber Initiative to come to their city.
The Google Fiber Initiative is an experiment that Google says will enable participants to test run ultra-high-speed Internet connections in select locations across the United States. If the Fiber Initiative goes as planned, anywhere from 50,000 to 500,000 people could have access to connection speeds up to 100 times faster than what most Internet users in the country would typically have today.
Google has asked American cities to submit their bids to be considered for this project by Friday, March 26. The winning entry will have high-speed connection implemented in that city. If all goes well, this could expand to other cities as well. Google has not yet released information on how much the Internet connection will cost if it does expand elsewhere.
According to Kevin Dawidowicz, an organizer for the event on the rally's Facebook group, the City of Buffalo and Mayor Byron Brown have announced that they have completed the request for information (RFI) and are calling for the city's support.
Local media outlets will cover the rally, and event organizers hope that local political leaders will be on hand to support Google's selection of the city of Buffalo. Dawidowicz encouraged rally attendees to do whatever they like to show their Buffalo pride and support of Google, both of which will be needed to win the bid. He stressed the significance that this high-speed Internet will have for the city and its residents who could chosen for this project.
"100x faster means more access to information, video, audio, news, education and other services much faster than ever before," Dawidowicz said. "Google's mission statement is 'to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful'. Basically, this is opening up the 'pipe' to that information."
He went on to say that that if Buffalo wins the bid to get the Internet connection, it could help economic growth in the region. Dawidowicz said that Buffalo has a rich history of being on the cutting edge of technology: it led the Industrial Revolution with the growth of the Erie Canal, and was the city that brought electricity to the world (illumination of the first electric in-home lights and public street lamps mainly due to its proximity to Niagara Falls). In all of these instances, according to Dawidowicz, Buffalo prospered because it led the way in terms of technological growth.
"With a company like Google looking to put its footprint down to test a new technology during the Informational Revolution, we can easily be assured that regional economic growth will follow," Dawidowicz said. "In supporting this initiative from a community standpoint, we show our political leaders that we are serious about technology focused initiatives here in Western New York."
The rally will be filmed and clips will be posted online at Buffalo Wants Fiber. To find out more about the Google Fiber Initiative, the rally downtown, or what else you can do to promote this before the March 26 deadline, visit Buffalo Wants Fiber or the rally's Facebook page.
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The Google Fiber Initiative is an experiment that Google says will enable participants to test run ultra-high-speed Internet connections in select locations across the United States. If the Fiber Initiative goes as planned, anywhere from 50,000 to 500,000 people could have access to connection speeds up to 100 times faster than what most Internet users in the country would typically have today.
Google has asked American cities to submit their bids to be considered for this project by Friday, March 26. The winning entry will have high-speed connection implemented in that city. If all goes well, this could expand to other cities as well. Google has not yet released information on how much the Internet connection will cost if it does expand elsewhere.
According to Kevin Dawidowicz, an organizer for the event on the rally's Facebook group, the City of Buffalo and Mayor Byron Brown have announced that they have completed the request for information (RFI) and are calling for the city's support.
Local media outlets will cover the rally, and event organizers hope that local political leaders will be on hand to support Google's selection of the city of Buffalo. Dawidowicz encouraged rally attendees to do whatever they like to show their Buffalo pride and support of Google, both of which will be needed to win the bid. He stressed the significance that this high-speed Internet will have for the city and its residents who could chosen for this project.
"100x faster means more access to information, video, audio, news, education and other services much faster than ever before," Dawidowicz said. "Google's mission statement is 'to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful'. Basically, this is opening up the 'pipe' to that information."
He went on to say that that if Buffalo wins the bid to get the Internet connection, it could help economic growth in the region. Dawidowicz said that Buffalo has a rich history of being on the cutting edge of technology: it led the Industrial Revolution with the growth of the Erie Canal, and was the city that brought electricity to the world (illumination of the first electric in-home lights and public street lamps mainly due to its proximity to Niagara Falls). In all of these instances, according to Dawidowicz, Buffalo prospered because it led the way in terms of technological growth.
"With a company like Google looking to put its footprint down to test a new technology during the Informational Revolution, we can easily be assured that regional economic growth will follow," Dawidowicz said. "In supporting this initiative from a community standpoint, we show our political leaders that we are serious about technology focused initiatives here in Western New York."
The rally will be filmed and clips will be posted online at Buffalo Wants Fiber. To find out more about the Google Fiber Initiative, the rally downtown, or what else you can do to promote this before the March 26 deadline, visit Buffalo Wants Fiber or the rally's Facebook page.
This sounds really cool, but am I missing something? How would this bring "economic growth" to Buffalo? I'm not trying to be negative, but rather just trying to understand where the jobs will come from.