City hopes to become Google Fiber Community

Rick Dietz thinks the City of Bloomington’s economic development can improve one gigabit at a time.

Dietz, the director of Bloomington's Information and Technology Services, is one of the people behind the city’s project to apply to be one of the cities Google chooses to test ultra high-speed broadband networks as part of its Fiber for Communities project.

“It would have a tremendous impact,” he said.

The city has until March 26 to submit a Request for Information to let Google know the city is interested in being part of the experiment, according to a City of Bloomington press release. The plan would give more than one gigabit per second to communities throughout the country, according to Google’s Web site. The city-wide fiber active network would run in every home and local business, Dietz said.

According to Google’s Web site about Fiber for Communities, it would charge “a competitive price” for the service.

IU already has a similar network throughout campus, Dietz said. If Bloomington is chosen for the project, the two networks could possibly connect.

Mayor Mark Kruzan announced the project at the State of the City address in February.

Dietz said he and Kruzan decided Bloomington could be a potential candidate for Google because of the city’s resources and landscape.

The application process includes the city applying and the public nominating the city for the project.

There was a meeting last week in the City Hall Council Chambers to brainstorm ideas for the project and to get the public involved in nominating the city.

“There were a lot of interesting ideas,” Dietz said about the meeting. “Suggestions were made so that we aren’t leaving anyone out and it benefits our whole community.”

Dietz said the long-term effect of being selected would mean more economic development because the city would be able to provide the high-speed network to businesses. In addition, the city could become a center for technology development.

During the State of the City address, Kruzan said that although the city’s chances of being selected are a “long stretch” because of the competitiveness of the project, he still wanted to see the city try.

“Such a network could transform a city,” he said.