The Googlification of Park City might be approaching, and that could mean lightning fast Internet service in the city.
City Hall is considering whether Park City should compete against what will likely be crowded field of places across the U.S. vying to take part in Google Fiber for Communities, a trial program by the search engine giant to offer Internet service via a fiber optic network.
Google officials say the service would deliver Internet speeds 100 times faster than what most people have access to now. Under the program, Google would fund the fiber optics on its own and then charge customers who use the service, becoming an Internet service provider, according to a company spokesman.
Dan Martin, a Google spokesman based in Washington, D.C., said the company would charge competitive prices and other Internet service providers would be permitted to use the fiber optic network.
Google will select communities to participate through a competitive process, with the deadline for submissions March 26. The company will then review the submissions and select the communities that will participate by the end of the year, Martin said. The timeline for the installation of the fiber optics depends on factors like local permitting processes, he said.
Mayor Dana Williams and the Park City Council are tentatively scheduled to discuss whether City Hall proceeds with a submission at a meeting on March 18. More information about the interest from Park City officials would likely be released on the Monday before the meeting.
A long-range list of upcoming City Council meetings indicates the City Council could be asked on March 18 to support a resolution in favor of a City Hall submission to Google. An opportunity for public testimony will probably be scheduled then as well.
Scott Robertson, the information technology director at City Hall, said it does not appear officials would need to set aside city monies for the program, but staffers might need to spend some time working on the project. He called Google Fiber for Communities a “very exciting opportunity.”
“There’s excitement, but we really have to look at what the opportunities mean to us,” Robertson said.
City Hall operates its own fiber optic network, but there is not service of that type available to households in Park City, according to Robertson.
Google officials will select an undetermined number of communities for the program. Martin said the combined population of the places selected will be between 50,000 and 500,000.
A few dozen communities — cities and counties — had submitted their paperwork by late February, he said. Google will send delegations to the communities in the running before the selections are made, Martin said. He said Google does not intend to seek subsidies from the governments in the places that are selected.
“Essentially, the goal is to make the Internet better and faster,” Martin said.
The prospects of City Hall submitting the paperwork to Google will likely be closely watched by people in Park City, a place populated by many people who rely on the Internet in their professions and a city that sees itself as being a leader among Utah’s communities. City Hall’s interest in Google Fiber for Communities has not been widely publicized.
According to a description of the program on Google’s Web site, the amount of support in a community, weather conditions, construction issues and local regulations will be among the factors that company officials consider when selecting places.
Google has a loose connection to Park City via its ownership of YouTube, with Sundance Film Festival organizers and YouTube having a partnership to make a few Sundance films available for rent on YouTube.