Community Working to Attract Google Broadband Into West Virginia
Written by Jason Keeling on March 2, 2010
Internet connectivity is an essential tool in today’s modern economy, but West Virginia lags behind the nation when it comes to Web accessibility.
While 66 percent of U.S. households have Internet access, only 56 percent of West Virginia households are connected to the Web, according to a 2007 task force report by the state Public Service Commission.
Morgantown residents Erik Pietrowski and Ryan Siglar have taken up the cause of expanding broadband in their community, jump starting an effort to attract Google Inc. into the Mountain State.
Google ‘Fiber for Communities’
On Feb. 10, Google announced “Fiber for Communities,” a pilot project that will provide high speed Internet connectivity across the nation to selected cities sized from 50,000 to 500,000 people.
Pietrowski and Siglar immediately approached Morgantown City Council member John Gaddis and the municipality is now developing its proposal, in conjunction with the adjacent communities of Westover, Star City and Granville.
Community members are being encouraged to submit their comments before March 26, given that Google weighs public feedback when awarding such projects.
A WVU Integrated Marketing Communications student, Pietrowski said landing the project would increase business capacity, further educational opportunities and potentially force competing Internet service providers to lower prices.
He added that regardless of whether Google selects Morgantown, the initiative will benefit the community, as it has brought people together for a worthwhile cause, which can have a lasting impact.
Posted in Business, Economy, Education, West Virginia
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March 2nd, 2010 at 5:26 pm
If Morgantown is able to participate in this project it will provide dividends for years to come. Morgantown is uniquely positioned to take advantage of improved broadband infastructure due to its status as a national education center, its educated population, its status as a medical center, as well as its geographic location.
I wrote an extensive Article on the history of the State’s efforts to expand broadband. The citation is as follows:
Casto, Dan, West Virginia’s Broadband Woes: The State’s Failed Efforts to Enter the Twenty-First Century (July 30, 2008). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1189490
March 2nd, 2010 at 5:37 pm
Special thanks goes out to Erik, Ryan, and Brian Bell for highlighting the opportunity. The efforts of the Morgantown team thus far to pursue this opportunity could prove to be a benchmark for future collaborative efforts. The willingness of the community to pull together and show strong support will also be key to this and future projects. The Morgantown area is truly one of the great secrets that is ripe for discovery. Morgantown the Next Generation. Let’s continue to work together to build a better WV.
John Gaddis - Morgantown City Councilor and Owner - GADDIS Consulting Group
March 2nd, 2010 at 5:43 pm
Great posts… we are working hard on this proposal with partners WVU and Board of Ed and the private sector folks…The reason Google’s investment makes such sense in Morgantown is that it is ready to take advantage of these types of opportunities that can bring so much benefit to the North Central region of WV, and indeed the entire State. Morgantown is a vibrant growing city located in an area that is woefully underserved in a digital world . An investment in Morgantown will produce results that an investment in a Palo Alto CA would never produce
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:04 am
While the City’s application is very important for approaching Google’s initiative, it is also important for the Morgantown community to express their interest and support of this effort. If both the City and Residents can demonstrate a desire to work with Google and a need for higher speeds, Morgantown should be well positioned for Google’s initiative.
And don’t forget to share videos and photos of “What you would do with a faster internet connection.” These media will be part of the city’s application and an important part to demonstrate community support. Send these items to info@cityofmorgantown.org.
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:56 pm
The effort to bring google to Morgantown may be as important as getting them here. That is the problem in the state — we cannot wish for broadband. We have to adequately demonstrate that any private enterprise that wishes to invest here will get a return. This is particularly important given you do have two landline providers who regardless of what you think are invested here. Wireless folks, too. First thing any good business planner is going to do is look at market share and the fact that most WV broadband providers have lots of unsold capacity. They will not come here just because it is a university town or you are nice.
Before I would spend $30 million or more here (a reasonable estimate to build just the fiber to towns and nearby areas like cheat lake), I would want to see if it will be used, because then I can sell it and generate enough revenue to pay for it. WV lacks the acumen and interest to create broadband demand. In the last snowstorm, did WV DOH or the city text a storm alert? (Va. does.) Can you pay a parking ticket on line? Does government stream its public sessions? I bet you cannot find the agenda for most local governments in a .pdf file, much less anything interactive. If this is going to work, stop wishing and hoping, and build the local infrastructure and capacity for broadband. This way if Google does not pick Morgantown, you still have options to stimulate investment by the current providers or new ones.
March 3rd, 2010 at 6:24 pm
friscojoe,
If anyone would like to receive a text or email or both, the City of Morgantown uses a service called Nixle (http://local.nixle.com/city/wv/morgantown/). This FREE system provides timely messages that are generated by city authorities when the need arises to alert registered users.
Most City of Morgantown related public meetings are broadcast via channel 15 (government public access channel) - with the new investment there may be an opportunity to provide two-way communication directly between citizens and/or presenters during live meetings.
The City of Morgantown does provide agendas via pdf online at http://www.morgantown.com as well as a monthly calendar of upcoming meetings.
The City Planner’s office provides agendas as well as advance notification of and access to information on matters that come before the Planning Commission (PC) and Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA). The City’s Planning & Zoning Code requires notification of property owners within two-hundred (200) feet of a site where certain land development and/or land use decisions are required by the PC or BZA. These notification letters can be viewed through the links. Each letter includes a brief description of the project, related approvals, and notice of the PC or BZA public hearing. Agendas for hearings noticed and related staff reports are posted on the City’s website approximately one week before the meeting. Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals hearings are broadcast live on Channel 15. Please check Channel 15 http://www.morgantown.com/channel15.htm for a rebroadcast schedule.
The above are just a few examples of the many tools that the City of Morgantown has implemented over the past few years. The potential of more technological innovations and the willingness of the citizens to embrace this expanded role of technology, I believe, is the role of this initiative.
All this still comes down to “What would you do with a GIG?”
John Gaddis - Morgantown City Councilor and Owner - GADDIS Consulting Group
March 4th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
John,
I want Morgantown to succeed and all of this is great. But I have been doing broadband since before it was broadband. Great evidence of a progressive city cited in your post. But you have to learn what to do with 3Megs before you can think about Gigs. But I like the concept. What I see across the state … I have been responsible for hundreds of new bb locations for a major communications company … is not enough broadband use. Morgantown is well ahead of the curve in most respects. But this kind of broadband in unsustainable without helping the community at large enbrace and use broadband more. Seniors still fear being online — not conjecture but fact. I have AARP connections.
And I would coach you to think more globally. Obvious you and the other early adopters out there have more than a clue about what to do with a gig. I think to gain the attention for the investment you need to keep thinking large, but help others not online now or barely online, to take firm, small steps forward. You have the tremendous advantage of being large enough to have broadband, but small enough to organize and engage a diverse group.
Careful with the incumbents. No one knows exactly what Frontier might do. Their president worked for Gates. Comcast enherited a mess, and after Verizon sells its landlines, they become your largest, most capable existing provider. Do not ignore their millions of investment and that they are here. If Google fails, and I hope not, i will repeat … make this effort long term so incumbents and newcomers will invest, realize it is a good although small market. No one in the entire state has put together anything to build sustainable broadband capacity. Be the first! This Google potential is a great start regardless of the outcome.
April 17th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
Anything in the works for a WV Blogger day to write a memorial for the UBB miners? There’s supposed to be a larger memorial service held sometime after the last of the funerals. I don’t think a date or place has been set yet. It would be nice, I think, if you could get us all to do some collective blogging around the time of that memorial. What do you think?