Congratulations, Provo, Utah, you will be the home base for the third Google Fiber roll-out in the last two years.
Provo joins Kansas City, Kansas and Austin, Texas as the third home base for the experimental broadband infrastructure. There are also satellite trials in Kansas City, Missouri and Olathe, Kansas.
Provo Mayor John Curtis, made the announcement Wednesday. The acceptance of Provo into the program comes one week after Google announced that Austin, Texas would be its second Google Fiber city.
The Google Fiber mantra, which seeks to connect available broadband capabilities with fiber optic wires, has developed an increase in broadband interest. The project, announced in 2010, promised trial runs of what Google hoped would become the world's fastest Internet service. Over 1,000 cities across the country applied to the program. One of the main attractions of the Google Fiber network is the availability of a one-gigabit Internet line. The average American Internet connection only processes 6.7 mbps.
The deal in Provo will coincide with Google's purchase of iProvo, a previously city-owned fiber-optic network. The network will also include new construction to bring fiber-optic capabilities to all Provo homes.
According to local Provo news site provobuzz.com, the selection of Provo was a "no-brainer" for Google."With a plethora of tech startups popping up from Provo to Lehi, it makes complete sense for Google to have its eye on the Provo area."
Microsoft, Dobo and Adobe are among several tech companies that have offices in the Provo area. The city's proximity to the University of Utah could have been another driving factor in the selection.
In a post to the Google Fiber blog, project manager Kevin Lo explained the city's selection.
"Provo area ranks second in the nation in patent growth, and is consistently ranked as one of the top places to live and do business in the U.S. We believe the future of the Internet will be built on gigabit speeds, and we're sure the businesses and residents of Provo already have some good ideas for what they'd build with a gig," Lo said.
The implementation of Google Fiber will be voted on at a city council meeting next week.
