Google Fiber in Bmore?

I, like many Baltimore residents, am anxiously awaiting the arrival of an ultra-fast broadband network in the city. I watched as surrounding counties get fiber optics installed through their neighborhoods. This allows them access not only to very high speed Internet, but also to television and phone service. Several times a week I receive ads in the papers telling me to sign up for these services at whatever deal is currently being offered. But alas, this service is not available in Baltimore City. Verizon doesn’t even have any future plans to bring the fiber optic service here. Their current focus is on fully developing and building out in neighborhoods or counties where installation has already begun. So Baltimoreans are forced to wait for our turn on the fiber optic ride. However there is a slight glimmer of hope out there. Google is accepting bids for its Fiber for Communities project, and Charm City has submitted an application (19 pages!). Just a few days ago the details of the application were made public. This article from The Daily Record contains some info about it: http://mddailyrecord.com/2010/04/08/baltimore%e2%80%99s-google-application-is-heavy-on-data/

The purpose of the application is to make the case to Google as to why Baltimore deserves to be part of their Fiber for Communities project, and why Baltimore deserves it more than the 1,100 other applicants. The document used data to hopefully convince Google than Baltimore is the place to be. We have 71,000 city-owned utility poles and almost 4 million linear feet of communications cables running through our underground conduit system. This is important since fiber optic cable can either be run atop utility poles or installed underground. We have about 1,960 apartment complexes with an average of 50 units each. There’s also lots of rowhomes. This would be good news for Google. They’d be able to pass a lot of households in a short distance, unlike in the suburbs where houses are much farther apart. This would lead to increased revenue for the company. The document stresses Baltimore’s growing per-capita income and its high concentration of IT workers. We are also home to a large number of strong financial, educational, and non-profit institutions as well as leading research labs and world-class medical centers. All of these resources would support and make the potential Google network a success. Good luck Bmore! I have my fingers crossed.