Google contest excites Philadelphia

The city of Philadelphia is trying to win a technology competition. The prize? …the next generation of fiber optics that would improve Internet data transmission.

The city of Philadelphia is trying to win a technology competition. The prize? …the next generation of fiber optics that would improve Internet data transmission. [audio:100309TMGIGABIT.mp3]

It’s Google’s offer to any municipality. As part of a trial, the Internet search technology corporation would provide gigabit service via super high speed fiber that would revolutionize such things as video transmission, including – among other things – the downloading of movies in a few minutes instead of hours.

Allan Frank is Philadelphia’s Chief Technology Officer. He says the high speed fiber could spur an industrial revolution in Philadelphia, should the be chosen.

Frank:
To create the same kind of software factories there are in India right here in Philadelphia. That’s why I call it urban on-shoring. You build infrastructure and tech firms sit on top of infrastructure. That’s what attracts them.

Frank says the city is focused on landing the Google trial because it has ideas on how to use the bandwidth, and Philadelphia is already installing the hardware in its government buildings to handle super high-speed Internet.

The application is due by the end of the month.