Support and Poll for Application for Google Fiber

Help Napa Become A Viable Candidate For Google's Fiber Network

Update: 10/23/2010: Google is creating a prototype of the high speed network in a Stanford University community. http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/22/google-to-beta-test-1gbps-fiber-internet-service-at-stanfords-r/

Update: 10/27/2010: 100 Mpbs over copper wire possible. Given that over 1,000 communities applied for the Google Fiber boon, the liklihood of Napa securing the grant is very slim. This discovery or innovation of providing DSL at 100 Mpbs over existing copper wires could be a very handsome consolation. See http://www.tomsguide.com/us/DSL-Broadband-NodeScale-Vectoring-Ikanos-VDSL,news-8459.html

photo by Juliana Inman 2010

How do I help?

Answer: Fill out the form below so we can have a real and solid numbers to include with the City of Napa's application to Google.

Introduction

I'm John Poole and live in the City of Napa. I am a software engineer at Oracle Corporation, the world's largest enterprise software company, and work several days of the week at Oracle's headquarters in Redwood Shores, California. I also work remotely from home in Napa using an Internet connection.

Background

Google has announced it will select a city to install, at their cost, high speed fiber connections of 1 Gigabyte per second (gbps) to every home and business. See here for what this means. This is like being a community that only has telegraph service in 1910 and having the phone company come and say they would like to install a phone network in your town.

As part of the criteria for selection, Google has indicated it will consider community support. Therefore, I believe it is imperative for every person to do something to show an interest which I hope the majority of people in Napa have. Many communities have elected to grandstand, and although fun and clever, I think the best approach Napa can take is to provide as much information to Google that is relevant to a deployment of a high speed network. I think identifying Napa's current state of Internet connections will help in this regard.

Google has a web form (see here to view a nonfunctional copy of it) to gather information from people supporting a particular city's application; however, it requires that one have a Google email account in order to submit it. I recognize that a requirement that one have a Google email account can discourage participants from registering their support and therefore provide only a glimpse of the real picture. I also do not think people should have to register for a Google email account to let their opinions count. Therefore, I have created this web site, napafiber.net, so that people who support Napa being a candidate for Google's Fiber project can register their support and provide information that will help Google determine if Napa is a viable candidate. I will be providing part of the information gathered to Google and to the City of Napa for their Google Fiber For Communities application; I will keep confidential your email.

Who should fill out this form?

Residents who live within the City of Napa or within one (1) mile of the City of Napa limits.
Businesses within the City of Napa or within five (5) miles of the City of Napa limits.

The deadline for submittals to Google is March 26th, information submitted to this site must occur prior to March 26th.

Confidentiality: All emails will held, in confidence, by John Poole.

Register Support For Google to Select Napa

What type of registration is this? residential business both business and residential (see Note 1 before selecting "both")

First Name: * Last Name: *

Street Name: * just the name of the street Nearest Cross Street Name: *

Zip Code: 94559 94558 94581 *

Company: If this is a business registration only.

Your Email: *

* denotes required information, if any of these fields is empty or contains invalid data, the vote/entry will be culled from the results.

Optional and helpful information

Number in house/business who use an Internet connection:

Residence	Business
1 2 3 4 or more	1-5 6-10 11-20 21-50 51 or more

If you are filling out this form on behalf of a residence, which plan do currently subscribe to:

Modem
DSL
Cable
Other (wireless-satellite-microwave)

If you are a business, would you be willing to provide additional information about your Internet service, e.g. subscription speed, provider name? Yes No

Would you be willing to participate in beta-testing of new technologies currently being considered by Google? Yes No

Click to register your support:

Comments, questions, or suggestions: email John Poole Please start your subject line with "NapaFiber site:".

Notes

1. We're basically trying to determine connections and their type. If you do business and personal work on the same Internet connection, then select "both". If, however, you have a personal connection and and a business connection, e.g. DSL for business and Cable Modem for personal, then please register twice using separate email accounts: once for personal and once for business; this way we'll show the true state of affairs - namely that there are two Internet connections.

Disclaimer:

The miles specified above do not necessarily mean that if the City of Napa is selected those outlying areas will be included; they are simply an estimate of what may be possible and are my subjective criteria.