[Cialug] Fwd: City of Ankeny: Ankeny has caught the Google bug; intends to compete for Google ultra high-speed broadband opportunity

Thu Mar 25 12:34:14 CDT 2010

Google would do well to look at Spencer, IA, where I used to live. They 
have an outstanding municipal system that private providers provide 
bandwidth and customer service on.

Mediacom slanders it at every opportunity. They gouged Spencer for 
decades during their monopoly, causing enough resentment for residents 
to bond and create the muni system in the end.

Despite that, Spencer did not kick Mediacom out, though Mediacom's 
prices suddenly became far more realistic.

It was a few years ago so I may be off a little on the figures, but I 
paid less than $60/mo total for basic phone, basic cable, and something 
close to 6Mbit Internet service.

Competition is good, and municipal systems can be used very effectively 
to break monopolies and raise quality of service for everyone.

Dave Weis wrote:
> 1. There have been other providers that provided something 'free' but after they gave up or went out of business, the city is left with antennas hanging on streetlights or random lawn furniture (cabinets) that no one wants to pay to clean up.
> 
> 2. Investigate something like the Lafayette fiber or UTOPIA in Utah. City governments regularly spend large amounts of money on things like streets, water, and other public functions. Looking at the detractors of these projects their main complaint is that the project doesn't provide an immediate payback. To that, neither do roads or water lines. I use $20 per month in water, I'm sure it will take decades to make the facilities feeding my house pay for themselves.
> 
> 3. Build a public access fiber network accessible to 3rd party providers. The provider will meet the municipal carrier at a common point to provide the service on top of the pipe.
> 
> dave
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________________
> From: cialug-bounces at cialug.org [cialug-bounces at cialug.org] On Behalf Of Nathan C. Smith [nathan.smith at ipmvs.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 7:33 PM
> To: 'cialug at cialug.org'
> Subject: Re: [Cialug] Fwd: City of Ankeny: Ankeny has caught the Google bug;    intends to compete for Google ultra high-speed broadband opportunity
> 
> Sounds like a great blog topic
> 1) Define the fallacy of the lottery mentality
> 2) What would it mean to get serious
> 3 how can they engage local providers to get it done?
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: cialug-bounces at cialug.org <cialug-bounces at cialug.org>
> To: 'Central Iowa Linux Users Group' <cialug at cialug.org>
> Sent: Wed Mar 24 18:56:27 2010
> Subject: Re: [Cialug] Fwd: City of Ankeny: Ankeny has caught the Google bug;    intends to compete for Google ultra high-speed broadband opportunity
> 
> 
> I wish these cities would be serious about providing bandwidth for their residents instead of the 'lottery ticket' mentality that Google has caused.
> 
> 
> --
> Dave Weis
> 515-224-9229
> djweis at internetsolver.com
> http://www.internetsolver.com/
> Please check out our Complete Support Service
> http://www.internetsolver.com/completesupport/
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cialug-bounces at cialug.org [mailto:cialug-bounces at cialug.org] On Behalf Of Jeffrey Ollie
> Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 6:28 PM
> To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
> Subject: [Cialug] Fwd: City of Ankeny: Ankeny has caught the Google bug; intends to compete for Google ultra high-speed broadband opportunity
> 
> Looks like Ankeny wants in on the fun too... (yay for me!)
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: webmaster at ankenyiowa.gov
> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:58:15 -0500
> Subject: City of Ankeny: Ankeny has caught the Google bug; intends to compete for Google ultra high-speed broadband opportunity
> To: jeff at ocjtech.us
> 
> Ankeny has caught the Google bug; intends to compete for Google ultra high-speed broadband opportunity Posted Date: 3/24/2010 12:00 PM  Ankeny, Iowa Press Release<http://www.ankenyiowa.gov/Modules/ShowImage.aspx?imageid"19>
> 
> March 24, 2010
> 
> Ankeny has caught the Google bug; intends to compete for Google ultra high-speed broadband opportunity Ankeny Google Bug<http://www.ankenyiowa.gov/Modules/ShowImage.aspx?imageid%53>
> 
> Contact:
> Deb Dyar
> 515.965.6414
> ddyar at ankenyiowa.gov
> 
> ANKENY, Iowa (March 24, 2010) - The Ankeny City Council announced its intent to respond to Google's request for information (RFI) regarding its Fiber for Communities initiative, which will bring competitively priced ultra high-speed Internet service to selected pilot communities.
> The Council unanimously adopted a Resolution Monday night and has launched a "Catch the Google Bug" campaign, the city's effort to showcase community support for the initiative; a criteria of the Google's RFI.
> 
> "Ankeny is known for innovation and that's what this pilot project is about; building infrastructure to spur innovation," said Steve Van Oort, mayor of Ankeny.
> 
> Google's proposed service is 100 times faster than most existing internet connections and will spark technological advances in other areas including real-time multimedia collaboration, high definition video, data storage, social and business networking and other ways not yet imagined.
> 
> Google's vision of a fiber-to-the-home network with open access is consistent with Ankeny's growing cluster of science- and technology-based industries and tech-savvy population.. Combined with Ankeny's history of strong partnerships, sense of community and experience with continuous change, Ankeny is well-positioned to seamlessly roll out a complicated project.
> 
> Ankeny will tap the expertise of its residents, educational institutions, businesses and other civic organizations to respond to the challenge.
> 
> The City has launched an online community call for support, "Catch the GoogleBug," where residents, businesses, civic organizations, students and entrepreneurs can upload photos and share how they could benefit from ultra high-speed Internet service in Ankeny. Ankeny is encouraging everyone to participate and follow the progress on the City's website <http://www.ankenyiowa.gov/googlebug> , Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/AnkenyGoogleBug>  and Twitter <http://www.twitter.com/AnkenyGoogleBug> .
> 
> For more information, contact the city manager's office at 515.965.6407 or ddyar at ankenyiowa.gov.
> 
> ###
> 
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> 
> --
> Jeff Ollie
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