Looks like Chapel Hill/Durham are putting together an official request with Google ...

Cary needs to jump on that boat as well.

3/4/2010 8:37:44 AM

yeahhh they do. drive TWC into the fucking ground.

3/4/2010 9:18:50 AM

complete the triangle

3/4/2010 9:22:02 AM

What The Heck! Does everything government do have to turn into an all-pay dollar auction? Why the fu*k doesn't google just build where they are going to build, why are cities spending tax payer dollars lobbying for google connectivity!?!? If this catches on in a big way, and someone could do the math, it may turn out once again that cities are collectively spending more money lobbying for free stuff than the free stuff friggin' costs.

[Edited on March 4, 2010 at 9:54 AM. Reason : .,.]

3/4/2010 9:54:17 AM

except there's no way that's true in this case

3/4/2010 9:57:37 AM

We have a glimmer of hope!

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/03/can-larry-and-sergey-gaylord-lure-google-fiber-to-raleigh.ars

His name, Bonner Gaylord, is both amazing and terrifying. But God bless his efforts!

http://www.bonnergaylord.com/

[Edited on March 29, 2010 at 1:12 PM. Reason : .]

3/29/2010 1:11:34 PM

^Dude, if he brings Google Fiber to anywhere in the triangle, first I'll move there. Then, I'll add a monthly donation to my bill. I've already been thinking of moving to Wilson just for Greenlight

3/29/2010 2:40:53 PM

Just out of curiosity what speeds are you guys getting in the RTP?

I'm with bellsouth dsl (boo) and am getting 340/2944 according to speedtests... I would welcome google with open arms. I don't watch enough tv to justify a bundled price on twc.

And like already mentioned. I would love more upload speed.

3/29/2010 3:27:16 PM

I have U-verse in Cary, approx 1500' from the nearest VRAD (who knows if it's the one I'm connected to, knowing AT&T's idiocty). I'm on the 18/1.5 plan. I tried to switch to 24/3 today online but will have to call in as the site isn't working.

For now, I'm getting 1.8-1.9 MB/s down (bytes--i.e. around 15 Mbps) & 1.5 Mb up. I can get those download speeds while still being able to browse/watch youtube and have wife play WoW with low ping. The upload speed is top-end, and means high WoW pings and a noticeable slow-down in browsing. The only way I can get those download speeds is on a well-seeded torrent, though. The best I can get from speedtest.net is 8.5 Mb up/1.5 down.


[Edited on March 30, 2010 at 1:39 AM. Reason : vrad]

3/30/2010 1:37:46 AM

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/different-kind-of-company-name.html

Pretty amusing.

I wonder, though, if they did this partly because they might not choose Topeka in the end and they don't want to look like cold hearted dicks.

4/1/2010 7:56:59 AM

probably more because they have to do something for April Fools Day....

4/1/2010 9:18:05 AM

yea, they did do something

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I24bSteJpw

4/1/2010 10:07:09 PM

i really hope we get this

screw TWC

4/1/2010 11:58:02 PM

Quote :

" Mark Turner April 20 at 7:33am Reply As you know, Raleigh's had its chance to convince Google to bring Google's Fiber to our city. Over 1,100 communities did, too. Do the math and you'll see that there will be many disappointed communities. Though we offer a compelling case, Raleigh may never see blazing-fast Internet. Not surprisingly, the big telecoms want to keep it that way. They know that once users get a taste of high-speed fiber Internet service, users will look at today's cable modems with the same disdain they look at the dial-up Internet of yesterday. It's true. Just ask our neighbors in Wilson. To keep everyone in the dark about the benefits of fiber Internet, the big telecoms are planning to introduce legislation in the N.C. State Senate's Revenue Laws Study Committee tomorrow, imposing a "moratorium" on municipal broadband projects. The telecoms' argue that these projects hurt the state tax revenue: a dubious claim at best. Here's where YOU come in! We need folks to be at this meeting to show that broadband Internet is important to our state. That broadband is too important to our economy to cede to the whims of monopolies. Like the public roads that nurture brick-and-mortar businesses, municipal broadband Internet can be the lifeblood of local economies. If you'd like to take part, the meeting will take place in the N.C. Legislative Office Building, room 544 on Wednesday, April 21st at 9:30 AM. Come early to get a seat and bring a friend if you'd like. You don't have to speak: just you're being there will make the case. Also, you may consider joining the Communities United for Broadband Facebook Group, which is covering this issue closely: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Communities-United-for-Broadband/106218516077372 Another good Facebook group is Broadband for Everyone: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/Broadband-for-Everyone/116298751719730 High speed fiber Internet: we've already seen we can't count on the incumbent, monopoly telcos to bring it to us and we can't count on Google to bring it to us, and we CERTAINLY can't let the big telcos take away our ability to do it for ourselves. Please attend Wednesday's meeting if you can and help keep Raleigh's broadband hopes alive. Regards, Mark Turner Bring Google Fiber to Raleigh"

Anyone surprised?

4/21/2010 3:55:43 AM

I don't understand. Why are municipal broadband projects the only way to get fiber internet? Why don't you and whatever people the city was going to have run their municipal broadband get together, start your own company, have the city give you free cable laying rights, and then go to town? You don't need the city's money to start an internet company, all you need is right of way, which even this bill could not stop any city from giving away for free.

As such, I like this bill. City governments have no place getting caught up in this. Go forth and lay your own fiber. Leave the tax-payers out of it.

4/21/2010 10:58:24 AM

^lol? Is that all thats keeping me from an all fiber network? well damn...I'm going to order some fiber tomorrow and get started.

4/21/2010 11:04:13 AM

Lots of communities do just that. A new small company runs fiber to the neighborhood, then the neighborhood gets together and runs their own fiber to their hub. It works differently, you pay a grand up front, but then you own the fiber running to your house and can hook it up to any provider that comes to the neighborhood. The problem is that this is expensive, so people seem to believe tax payers should subsidize their internet. But it is only subsidizing the installation, as from then on the city would own the fiber running to your house, and you would be unable to go to another internet provider without making yet another fiber run. It would seem to me internet should become quite cheap once the last quarter-mile is owned by the homeowner and the city opens up the right-of-way to all comers.

4/21/2010 11:21:18 AM

oh look, my HOA dues just shot up through the roof! yay.

4/21/2010 11:23:33 AM

I think someone is forgetting that it's not a Mom and Pop telecom company that wants to push this legislature into play, it's the companies that are already making billions of dollars low-balling speeds to their consumer base.

4/21/2010 8:38:09 PM

Quote :

"They know that once users get a taste of high-speed fiber Internet service, users will look at today's cable modems with the same disdain they look at the dial-up Internet of yesterday."

will? i already do.

oh, and

Quote :

"screw TWC"

[Edited on April 21, 2010 at 9:17 PM. Reason : ]

4/21/2010 9:16:18 PM

http://stopthecap.com/2010/05/04/north-carolina-action-alert-municipal-broadband-moratorium-bill-expected-to-be-introduced-wednesday/

Quote :

"North Carolina faces a moratorium on municipal broadband deployment. On Wednesday, Senators David Hoyle and Daniel Clodfelter will introduce a bill expected to stall community broadband projects across the state. The bill, which has yet to be seen by the public, should appear in the Revenue Laws Study Committee, co-chaired by Clodfelter. We have heard the bill faces mere minutes of consideration before a quick vote, in hopes of moving it forward before the public finds out what elected officials are doing on their behalf. Proponents of the moratorium argue that municipal broadband harms private industry and reduces tax revenue the state earns from those businesses. But their argument lacks something — merit. Missing from the debate are the actual numbers from the state’s largest telecommunications companies. How much tax revenue does Time Warner Cable, AT&T and CenturyLink (formerly EMBARQ) generate? We don’t know and the two senators (and the companies involved) aren’t saying. Municipal broadband projects bring numerous benefits to North Carolina communities: * jobs (taxpayers); * high tech businesses moving into the state (taxpayers); * entrepreneurial innovation that creates new small businesses (taxpayers); and * benefits to the education and health care sectors (future taxpayers and keeping current taxpayers alive and healthy). Make no mistake — a moratorium is just a stall tactic to protect current provider profits and avoid competition, all while giving them more time to organize a push for a permanent ban on such projects. Why are Hoyle and Clodfelter only concerned with protecting incumbent telecom companies? What about the rest of us? Please join us tomorrow at the Legislative Office Building in Raleigh, and perhaps we can ask them. Action Alert — We Need Your Attendance! * Where: Legislative Office Building, Raleigh * When: Wednesday May 5th at 9:30am, Room 544 * Why: Just having consumers in the room make elected officials nervous, especially when they are about to introduce a bill the public has never seen five minutes before a vote to move it forward in the short legislative session starting May 12th. "

5/5/2010 11:43:12 AM

I am in favor of the moratorium, but I missed the meeting, so the only place my voice can be heard is on this forum!

5/5/2010 4:34:36 PM

lol. I, too, am in favor of the big telecomm companies twisting the law to their advantage to further keep us in the bandwidth stone age while making us pay for high end service.

5/5/2010 4:39:39 PM

^

5/5/2010 6:55:27 PM

I am in favor of most laws proclaiming the "government shall not" do something, especially this one. You can compete with the big telcos all you want, just leave the city government out of it. I only wish they would also impose a moratorium on lots of other stupid things cities get involved with, such as sports stadiums and convention centers.

5/6/2010 12:08:08 PM

Quote :

"I am in favor of most laws proclaiming the "government shall not" do something, especially this one."

You are not fully understanding the situation. The point of this moratorium is to BLOCK competition not welcome it...lol. Lets face the facts...Google isn't trying to compete with the big telecom companies, they're just trying to scare them into upgrading their networks.

I don't see any better way then "WE THE PEOPLE" using our tax money to fight off the slow to adopt telecom companies and provide ourselves with real high speed internet.

5/6/2010 12:37:00 PM

And I don't see any way using tax dollars in this fight will help the situation. It may help some people, especially those friendly with city councilmen, but the losses to everyone else will dominate any perceived gains. Far better for "WE THE PEOPLE" to bite the bullet and fight to start our own ISP. Many communities have done just that, and people power has prevailed. Whole neighborhoods rallying together and trenching their own properties, asking only for materials from the local internet non-profit service provider, as fiber internet cascaded from neighborhood to neighborhood.

5/6/2010 1:00:57 PM

So you want people to fork over MORE money in addition to the taxes they already pay and increase their HOA dues when this could all be done with taxes (our money) and Googles money? hmm...thats an odd way to go about getting better internet.

Your idea: Your neighborhood has fiber at your own direct expense.
Googles: Your entire city has fiber.

5/6/2010 1:14:24 PM

Funny. It never worked out that way before. Usually the city puts forth massive expense, raises taxes on all the cities residents, slashes police and fire protection to cover the short-falls, and still only the 5% most politically connected residents enjoy the new service. That is how most of these boondoggles work out.

5/6/2010 2:19:50 PM

really? Care to enlighten us all on your sources?

This whole notion you are supporting is designed specifically to prevent ANY kind of competition to the telecom companies. I call that MORE government control not less.

[Edited on May 6, 2010 at 2:25 PM. Reason : .]

5/6/2010 2:21:09 PM

The municipal wifi calamity of just a few years ago seems evidence enough to me.

And I told you how to build competition: with your own resources and efforts. Building a government monopoly is simply not the best idea available.

5/6/2010 2:53:35 PM

Quote :

"The municipal wifi calamity of just a few years ago seems evidence enough to me. And I told you how to build competition: with your own resources and efforts. Building a government monopoly is simply not the best idea available."

the wifi was a failure for other reasons. Not because it was a municipal service.

You haven't told us anything except that you'd want government control in favor of the existing telecom companies.

This is in no way shape or form a government monopoly. You still are not understanding.

5/6/2010 2:59:04 PM

rumor google fiber is coming to Raleigh? anyone heard it?

2/17/2011 5:10:45 PM

This would be a BIG announcement. I'm thinking rumors are just rumors.


But if they get it that would be freaking awesome.

2/17/2011 5:39:43 PM

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/30/googles-gigabit-fiber-network-to-be-built-in-kansas-city-kansa/

3/30/2011 1:23:52 PM

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/02/google-fiber-chooses-nine-metro-areas-for-possible-expansion/

Alright, bring it on to Raleigh!!! Lets do this.

2/19/2014 1:47:48 PM

I hope they move into Cincinnati before Comcast buys up Time-Warner Cable.

2/19/2014 2:13:40 PM

https://fiber.google.com/newcities/

Let's do this, dammit!

2/19/2014 2:16:24 PM

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/blog/2014/02/triangle-on-short-list-for-google.html?ana=e_trig_bn

2/19/2014 2:22:20 PM

gimme gimme, die twc.

2/19/2014 2:49:19 PM

I just got an email from Google asking me to share that they were trying to come to the triangle

2/19/2014 6:31:53 PM

Do as the man says!

[Edited on February 20, 2014 at 12:46 PM. Reason : .]

2/20/2014 12:45:40 PM

The day I am able to say eff you time warner will be a great day

2/22/2014 11:30:28 AM

Indeed. I'd get into this.

2/22/2014 2:53:49 PM

So I see that LoneShark has always been an idiot, and its not something new.

2/22/2014 5:04:18 PM

I appreciate the sentiment, but you need to do a better job of suppressing your obsession with me.

2/25/2014 11:32:51 AM

I'm waiting for the free market to find a solution for that

2/25/2014 11:46:31 AM

It found one, but as most understand, we don't live in a free market.

2/25/2014 4:09:09 PM

Thank you Town of Morrisville for the update, excellent stuff.

http://www.townofmorrisville.org/index.aspx?NID=709

Quote :

"Statement Regarding Google Fiber Thank you for your interest in Google Fiber and the opportunity for the Town of Morrisville to be considered for this project. General information about this project and the Town of Morrisville’s participation in this effort is provided below. The Town will provide additional information and updates as they become available. - On February 19, 2014, Morrisville was one of eight cities in the Raleigh/Durham metro area included in the announcement. Evaluation of our metro area will be done collectively to assess whether or not we meet Google Fiber’s qualifications. - Exploratory talks with Google Fiber will begin the week of February 24 during which Town staff will receive an orientation to the evaluation process. The targeted towns will also be asked to provide information to Google Fiber via a checklist. The checklist will provide Google Fiber an understanding of our municipality’s processes, ordinances and policies as well as information about our public infrastructure. - This process will take several months. The Town of Morrisville staff will be actively engaged in providing the information to support Google Fiber’s consideration of our metro area as well as evaluating ways to enhance our success in being selected for the ultra-fast network. - Google Fiber hopes to select expansion of cities by the end of the year. - More information about the Google Fiber project and process can be found at https://fiber.google.com/newcities. Citizens may also sign up for updates directly from Google Fiber on this website. "

[Edited on February 26, 2014 at 2:14 PM. Reason : .]

2/26/2014 2:12:42 PM

Quote :

"Subject: Our merger with Comcast: What it means for you. From: Time Warner Cable <timewarnercable@email.timewarnercable.com> Date: 3:51 PM (1 hour ago) Dear Valued Customer: Recently, Time Warner Cable announced plans to merge with Comcast, forming an industry-leading technology and media company dedicated to delivering great customer experiences. [...] We expect the merger to close around the end of 2014."

MAKE HASTE GOOGLE, PLZKTHX!

3/7/2014 5:14:49 PM