Google Selects Phoenix as Potential Site for Ultra High-Speed Internet Service

Faster Internet key to city’s ‘Innovation and infrastructure,’ Stanton Says

Phoenix is among a select few U.S. cities that will work with Google to deliver the company’s ultra high-speed Google Fiber network to local residents, businesses, and education centers, Mayor Greg Stanton said today.

Greater Phoenix was one of only nine metropolitan areas chosen as potential sites for the network, and the City of Phoenix – along with Scottsdale and Tempe – will work with Google teams over the next several months to take the necessary steps to roll out this cutting-edge technology to the Valley.

Google Fiber’s broadband network can deliver Internet speeds up to 1 Gigabit – a speed that is 100 times faster than the average broadband network. Today, Google Fiber’s lightning-fast speeds are available in only two metropolitan areas: Kansas City and Provo, Utah. It will be available in Austin, Texas later this year.

“This is the kind of cutting-edge technology that can help lift our entrepreneurs, accelerate economic development, offer new education opportunities and improve the lives of everyone in our community,” said Stanton. “We’re excited for the opportunity to work with Google to deliver faster, more productive Internet service to Phoenix.”

Stanton said that a network that can carry faster speeds is critical to an economy’s “Innovation Infrastructure” – and that competitive Internet speeds have just as much importance as transit, roads, and electrical and water lines. The Valley’s ability to offer ultra high-speed Internet in the marketplace is fundamental to its competitiveness in the 21st century economy, he said.

Gigabit Internet service’s high speeds can boost productivity. For example, a two-hour high definition video that takes one hour to download on a 9.8 Mbps connection would only take about 36 seconds to download with a Gigabit connection.

Only a handful of U.S. cities offer Gigabit Internet services of any kind, and the cost of the service varies significantly. But areas with the technology have seen it help economic development efforts

Entrepreneurs and start-ups are flocking to neighborhoods with Google Fiber in Kansas City, creating new innovation clusters. [Source: “Google Fiber spawns startup renaissance in Kansas City,” CNET, June 19, 2013.]

Phoenix must not only compete with cities in our own country, but with regions across the globe already outperforming the United States when it comes to Internet infrastructure, Stanton said. “The World Economic Forum ranked the United States 35th out of 148 countries in Internet bandwidth, a measure of available capacity in a country,” according to the New York Times. “Other studies rank the United States anywhere from 14th to 31st in average connection speed.” [Source: “U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace in Delivering Broadband Service,” New York Times, Dec. 29, 2013]

More information about Google’s plan to expand its Fiber network is available at http://www.google.com/fiber/newcities.