Not content to simply twiddle their thumbs waiting for Google to announce which city will receive the $1 billion high-speed fiber optic network, last week, Baltimore Google Czar, Tom Loveland, hosted the Bmore Fiber Symposium.
In attendance were representatives from the State and City, public and private sectors as well as members of the Baltimore community, all interested in pursuing a single goal � deploying super high-speed broadband to the city.
Among the featured speakers were Lafayette, La. City-Parish President Joey Durel and Graham Richard, former mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Both men spoke about their efforts to deploy fiber optic networks in their communities and the impact the technology has had on their respective cities.
According to Durel, consumers in Lafayette have seen a 20 percent savings on their telephone, Internet and cable bills. The city has also caught the eye of technology firms throughout North America who are eager to move to Lafayette to be part of a community that has embraced the technology.
John Horrigan, the Consumer Research Director at the FCC, who recently authored the agency's National Broadband Plan, offered a series of recommendations that would help Baltimore when the time comes to roll out its fiber optic network. They included establishing public-private partnerships to help every citizen understand the benefits of better broadband access and to adopt the technology when it becomes available.
Sources: Joey Durel, John Horrigan
Writer: Walaika Haskins