Portland vies to be Google's 'fiber city'
The Web giant is choosing at least one test site to run super-fast fiber-optic cable to every residence.
By Tom Bell tbell@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer
PORTLAND — Ready to send video messages in an instant? Download an entire feature film in seconds? Play "Avatar" in streaming high-definition video on your laptop?
JOIN THE CAMPAIGN
Portland officials want to demonstrate community support for its Google application and are urging people to send e-mails to the city's economic development director, Greg Mitchell, at gmitchell@portlandmaine.gov.
If you live in Portland, you now have permission to dream big.
Google plans to choose at least one U.S. city and run fiber-optic cables to every dwelling, providing Internet speeds that would be 100 times faster than broadband.
Google is searching for cities with populations of 50,000 to 500,000 for its Google Fiber initiative. More than 100 have expressed interest.
And yes, Portland is submitting an application.
Several cities are making public appeals for Google's attention.
The mayor of Duluth, Minn., leaped into Lake Superior on a freezing winter day. The mayor of Wilmington, Del., announced plans to jump out of a plane. City officials in Topeka, Kan., renamed their city "Google" for the month of March. In Huntsville, Ala., residents created a Facebook page, Google Fiber for Huntsville, with more than 6,200 fans.
Portland, on the other hand, is taking the stealth approach -- city officials are focused on writing a strong application and delivering it to Google before the March 26 deadline.
The pitch: Portland is a miniature version of a big city -- an economically diverse hub with a dense downtown populated by youthful, tech-savvy and creative people.
Moreover, the city has experience when it comes to field-testing new technology. In 1997, Time Warner Cable launched the nation's fourth Road Runner high-speed Internet service in Portland. In 2003, it launched the nation's first digital phone system here.
City Councilor John Anton, who encouraged the city to apply for the Google network, said he expects substance to prevail over publicity gimmicks.
"I really hope Google is making a decision based on the merits of the application and not whether people are jumping into bodies of water," he said.
Portland officials nevertheless want to demonstrate community support and are urging people to send e-mails to the city's economic development director, Greg Mitchell, at gmitchell@portlandmaine.gov.
Joshua Broder, president of Tilson Fiber Technology LLC, a Portland-based telecommunications consulting company, is helping the city fill out the application.
Broder said consumers in the future will need super-high-speed Internet for applications that have yet to be invented.
Several Portland businesses already have high-speed fiber-optic service, which allows users to transmit large volumes of data quickly. But the service is not available in homes.
Verizon offers high-speed fiber-optic connections to homes in several states, including Massachusetts, although the speeds are significantly slower than what Google is planning.
Time Warner provides an advanced fiber-optic network to commercial customers in Portland and many other parts of the state. It offers a hybrid version for residential customers.
Broder said Google is frustrated that telephone and cable companies have been slow to invest in fiber optics -- its long-term plans call for building fiber-optic networks and leasing the lines to service providers already doing business in the communities.
"This is like a trucking company that has really fast trucks but the road stinks," Broder said, "so they company says, 'We're going to build some roads.'"
He estimates that it would cost more than $40 million to install fiber-optic cables to every home in Portland. The cables would run on telephone poles.
Google also allows non-governmental groups to nominate communities for the project. TechMaine, a Westbrook-based technology trade association, has submitted an application for southern Maine.
TechMaine's executive director, Joe Kumiszcza, said his group can link Google with application developers in the region who can create products that can take advantage of a super-high-speed network.
Google is launching this initiative to showcase the transformation that occurs in a community when super-high-speed Internet access becomes ubiquitous, Kumiszcza said.
Broder said the high speeds would allow a full-length movie to be downloaded in less than a minute. The fiber-optic cables can transmit one gigabit of data per second, many times faster than any other residential service in the nation.
"It's pretty extraordinary," Broder said. "Everything is instantaneous."
If Google chooses Portland, Broder said, it can eventually broaden the fiber-optic service to other communities by building on the infrastructure to be established by the state's Three Ring Binder initiative.
That project will create three fiber-optic service rings, one in northern Maine, one from midcoast to Down East and one in western Maine.
The rings will be a shared resource open to all qualified Internet providers.
The project has received $25.4 million in federal stimulus money and $7 million in private equity.
Maine Fiber Co. will oversee the construction, maintenance and leasing of the Three Ring network.
Robert C.S. Monks, a lead investor in the company, is a board member of MaineToday Media Inc., which owns the Portland Press Herald. Broder works as a consultant for the company.
Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at: tbell@pressherald.com
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22 COMMENTS
heyjoe said...
The only "fiber" Portland is going to get is at B & M.....
March 16, 2010 at 5:23 AM Report abuse
MECommenter said...
I appreciate the enthusiasm of the Council but considering that there are tens of thousands of applications being forwarded to Google, I hope they realize the long odds. That said, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
March 16, 2010 at 6:45 AM Report abuse
Peetree said...
Port:Google:land, has a nice ring to it, in a geeky, techie sort of way :P
March 16, 2010 at 6:58 AM Report abuse
mutt said...
Regardless of this outcome the state and private business need to make high speed Internet access and cell coverage statewide for econmics growth. Our" brand" is our 4 season rural beauty with small towns and cities within reach. Increasingly workers can do their jobs anywhere. Build it market it and they will come. The idea that we will develop our selves and turn into Massachusetts is a sad joke. I want wokers from IBM and fortune 500 companies locating here working remotely a d it ain't happening with dial up and dropping calls on the turnpike!!!
March 16, 2010 at 7:02 AM Report abuse
backwrdstate said...
Not holding my breath, long odds as ME said. Having suffered through years of substandard service from Time=Warner, I'm really, really hoping we get lucky.
March 16, 2010 at 7:06 AM Report abuse
Blanco said...
Is it true the Presumpscot River flooded because Mayor Mavadones jumped in Casco Bay in an effort to lure Google?
March 16, 2010 at 7:46 AM Report abuse
gowens said...
'Having suffered through years of substandard service from Time=Warner, I'm really, really hoping we get lucky. I second that motion...I"ve about had it with their service.
March 16, 2010 at 8:27 AM Report abuse
Steve0 said...
Mutt: Telecommuting is one of those things that sounds good on the surface, but in practice a lot is lost on not having people on-site. Also, IBM workers have a wonderful facility in Burlington, VT, so I'm not sure they choose Portland over Burlington.
March 16, 2010 at 8:37 AM Report abuse
mutt said...
Steve this is the only realistic growth as I see it. We can't or don't compete because of the high fixed cost of doing business. I can't tell you the increase I see in webinars and teleconferencing that is going on. To do this and look out on the ocean or the woods or whatever magic you find here has value. The gen x ers and millenials are comfortable in this environment. But like I said it aint happening with dial up and dropped calls. That two faced governor in the 90's and verizon promised it but it never happened. It is a lot brighter future than wind farms and telemarketing jobs or service jobs paying $8 with benefits.
March 16, 2010 at 8:45 AM Report abuse
mktbubble said...
Portland does not have the technology support for this. If Time Warner has anything to do with it, it definitely won't happen. If I was allowed to have a satellite dish on my condo, Time Warner would be a thing of the past...
March 16, 2010 at 8:45 AM Report abuse
homeboy said...
Now if just keep them from meeting Nick Mavaodnes, or seeing Jill Duson dance, we might have a chance...
March 16, 2010 at 9:35 AM Report abuse
Steve0 said...
Mutt: I agree that dial-up is too slow for telecommuting, but the greater Portland area has had cable internet for a long time. Technically, cable is sufficiently fast for most applications. What is preventing the throngs of telecommuters from using this technology in the Portland area? Webinars are a great in theory, but in the real world a lot of deals and collaboration are set up in private conversations during the break periods of conferences -- those opportunities disappear during a webinar.
March 16, 2010 at 9:36 AM Report abuse
Chew said...
Portland had broadband access long before most of the country as did Brunswick. Being on the small side of the cutoff population positions Portland as a less costly undertaking than a larger city. Our comparative physical isolation as well as significant reveue stream from tourism can be positioned positively from a marketing perspective. That Maine is perceived (generally) within the tech industry as a follower, not a leader, would also be good for Google, especially since this upgrade would encourage technology corporations to establish a presence in Maine. Plus we are reasonably close to the much higher population in Boston but with lower wages, lower property values, and with far more to gain from much less expense. Sure the odds are long but the offering is good and potentially beneficial to all sides.
March 16, 2010 at 9:38 AM Report abuse
notspot said...
"Is it true the Presumpscot River flooded because Mayor Mavadones jumped in Casco Bay in an effort to lure Google?" And here I thought Blanco was a grown-up. My mistake.
March 16, 2010 at 9:48 AM Report abuse
tls77 said...
i've thought about moving elsewhere just because portland doesn't have fiber optic. it's a sham. seriously guys, as far as internet goes maine is living in 1998.
March 16, 2010 at 10:33 AM Report abuse
mutt said...
Steve read my lips I am not talking about Portland!! The rest of the state!!!! We need to have high speed and cell phone access to attract highly paid proffesionals in all sorts of industries!! Going to the office 9 to 5 is soooo stuck in old school thinking. Skyping, webinars and flying to the home office and trade shows will complement the remote aspect. Companies won't have to rent space and heat it they will have productive and satisfied workers because they will have a lifestyle they want. Or Baldacci and the next governor can parade around the state to empty factories and talk how they are going to retrain workers for non existent jobs.
March 16, 2010 at 11:15 AM Report abuse
Blanco said...
Not Spot- That stuff is gold, Baby, Gold!
March 16, 2010 at 1:15 PM Report abuse
Steve0 said...
mutt: Much of the rest of the state's non-rural areas also have cable internet. If you are only talking about expanding it to areas where there is only dial-up, you are going to be pushing a high marginal cost per new telecommuting professional. I would wager that wiring T1 to every camp in the back woods MIGHT bring a few dozen extra people here. Then again if you are talking about beyond Portland, those flights to trade shows and the home office really become a pain in the butt.
March 16, 2010 at 3:29 PM Report abuse
mutt said...
Ok so Maine has 1.2 million residents. 300k live in greater Portland. What is it that everyone raves about? Our seasons. Our workers. Why doesnt monks and his company get this thing going?
March 16, 2010 at 4:11 PM Report abuse
tiepair said...
I'm highly doubting Portland will get such a thing, considering the grant for the three ring binder thing. Why would Google throw more money to a city that's already got a pending fiber optic back-haul project going through it? With all of this middle mile/long haul stuff in the area, I would think it'd be more sensible for Google to award this to an area that didn't already get money from the Federal Government.
March 16, 2010 at 8:39 PM Report abuse
SANDPIPER said...
Oh please oh please oh please could we have high speed internet without having to purchase it from Fairpoint? After being SCREAMED at by a customer service rep when I called them about a false charge on my landline bill for a call I never made, I decided that they may have my landline since they are the only company available in my area, but they most certainly WILL NOT EVER get my internet business. Unfortunately my nice local ISP doesn't have DSL or broadband in my area...so it looks like I'll be on dialup til the middle of the century. But NO internet business will I do with Fairpoint after their antics!
March 16, 2010 at 8:42 PM Report abuse
lisap said...
Portland has long been a test city for new products, etc.
March 16, 2010 at 11:30 PM Report abuse