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  • Google's ultra fast broadband network to start in Kansas City

    Google picks KCK to be site for its first ultra-fast broadband network site
    By DAWN BORMANN and ROBERT A. CRONKLETON
    The Kansas City Star

    DAVID EULITT | The Star
    Google Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette announced Wednesday at Wyandotte High School Kansas City, Kan. would be the internet search company's first site for its ultra high-speed internet service.

    It’s official: Google says it will make Kansas City, Kan., its first site for its ultra-fast broadband network.

    “The entire country is going to be watching what happens here,” said Milo Medin, Google’s vice president for access services.

    The news stirred hundreds of giddy onlookers to their feet Wednesday at Wyandotte High School, where many had gathered to hear the surprise announcement.

    “We look forward to inventing the future together,” Medin said.

    Google provided answers to many questions about the project at: www.google.com/fiber/kansascityks/index.html

    More than 1,000 cities across the United States campaigned to be Google’s first site.

    “We wanted to find a location where we could build quickly and efficiently. Kansas City has great infrastructure and Kansas has a great business-friendly environment,” Medin said.

    Google plans to offer service beginning in the first quarter of 2012.

    The service, which doesn’t have a price yet, is intended to offer internet speeds as high as one gigabit. Google says that’s about 100 times faster than most Americans have now.

    The experience for the users will be similar to the conversion from dial-up to broadband, Medin said.

    The news had local, state and federal dignitaries beaming with possibilities.

    “As governor of this state I’m declaring today Google Day in Kansas,” said Kansas Governor Sam Brownback.

    Many were left wondering exactly what the decision means for the average user. While there are massive implications for healthcare, economic development and education, it will be up to businesses and the public to consider the possibilities.

    “You put a brand new tool out there and you say, come play with it,” Brownback said.

    Schools, as well as other public locations, will be able to use the service for free. Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools Superintendent Cynthia Lane said the difference will be immediate especially at the districts’ high schools, where every student is issued a school laptop.

    Lane said high school students are usually texting the minute they wake up “so their world is fast, fast, fast,” she said. “But when they get to the school, we slow way down.”

    With the new service, Lane said, parent-teacher conferences won’t have to happen at school.

    “My mind is racing,” said Pat Brune, president of Leadership 2000.

    Brune said in the mid-1990s she was part of the initiative to make the court one of the first in the country that could take electronic filings.

    “I understand the opportunities that new technology brings even when you can’t define what that opportunity might be,” she said. “It is exactly as our speakers said today, ‘Let us play with it we can make it be something amazing.’”

    Brune said the new service will let Leadership 2000 bring all the neighborhood groups together to discuss issues instantly.

    “The power is almost staggering to think about,” Brune said. “The way governments can use it. The way communities can use it. The way individuals and schools can use it. Goodness gracious, it will be amazing. And with all due humility, KCK deserves to be first.”

    Google said it will work closely with local organizations, including the Kauffman Foundation and the University of Kansas Medical Center.

    Company officials also said they would educate people on computer and broadband use, and let third parties offer their own services on the network.

    Competition to become the pilot city for the service was fierce. Topeka even changed its name to Google for a month last year.

    The announcement finally came at noon today amid a thick fog of secrecy. Before that, Wyandotte County officials said little more than they would have an announcement with national implications.

    The Google logo on the podium and white tents outside that stood empty except for big blocks in the Google colors of red, blue, green and yellow gave a hint. But just an hour before the announcement, even some dignitaries at Wyandotte High School were still trying to get early word what the news would be.

    Officials who did know signed nondisclosure agreements, said Mike Taylor, spokesman for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan.



    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    To reach Dawn Bormann, call 816-234-7704 or send email to dbormann@kcstar.com. To reach Robert A. Cronkleton, call 816-234-4261 or send email to bcronkleton@kcstar.com.

    Posted on Wed, Mar. 30, 2011 03:58 PM


    No, I did not steal that from somebody on Something Awful.

  • #2
    I don't understand why they would do this in the boondocks of hillbilly land.
    "Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
    "I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi

    Comment


    • #3
      Huh? It's nowhere near Camden.
      No, I did not steal that from somebody on Something Awful.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Al B. Sure! View Post
        I don't understand why they would do this in the boondocks of hillbilly land.
        ****ing racist!

        But back on subject since I have no interest in seeing this thread turn into a thread about alby...

        This is great news for Kansas City. Congrats!
        Keep on Civin'
        RIP rah, Tony Bogey & Baron O

        Comment


        • #5
          What? I don't even know what state Kansas City is in. Is it in Missouri or Kansas? Like what the hell?

          The article says Kansas but what is Kansas City, Missouri, then?
          "Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
          "I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi

          Comment


          • #6
            KCMO is KCK's bigger, flashier sister.





            Not bad for the boondocks, eh, Albie?
            No, I did not steal that from somebody on Something Awful.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Al B. Sure! View Post
              I don't understand why they would do this in the boondocks of hillbilly land.
              RACIST!

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Ming View Post
                ****ing racist!

                But back on subject since I have no interest in seeing this thread turn into a thread about alby...

                This is great news for Kansas City. Congrats!
                Thanks!
                No, I did not steal that from somebody on Something Awful.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by The Mad Monk View Post
                  KCMO is KCK's bigger, flashier sister.





                  Not bad for the boondocks, eh, Albie?
                  That's it? That's the whole city?

                  There's like 6 skyscrapers there

                  Yeah still the boondocks.

                  Seriously though how does that work? Are they two cities that share the same name (which I imagine is confusing)?
                  "Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
                  "I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Oh and there's nothing racist about calling out West hillbilly land. That's where hillbillies are from, aint it? And how is hillbilly racist? Did I say all white people are hillbillies? No. I'm not like Dave Floyd or Doc making blanket statements like "Black men rape white women".
                    "Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
                    "I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      black men rape only black women. better?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Al B. Sure! View Post
                        Oh and there's nothing racist about calling out West hillbilly land. That's where hillbillies are from, aint it? And how is hillbilly racist? Did I say all white people are hillbillies? No. I'm not like Dave Floyd or Doc making blanket statements like "Black men rape white women".
                        Yes, lot of hills in KANSAS.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          No, most "hillbillies" are in the Appalachians.

                          You know, the mountains that pass through Pennsylvania.
                          No, I did not steal that from somebody on Something Awful.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            KCMO is older and wealthier, having been founded in the 1850s. KCK was founded and incorporated about 1870, after the Civil War and the bad blood that generated between Missouri and Kansas.
                            No, I did not steal that from somebody on Something Awful.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              The Springfield, Missouri Chamber of Commerce once presented dignitaries visiting the city with an "Ozark Hillbilly Medallion" and a certificate proclaiming the honoree a "hillbilly of the Ozarks."
                              Springfield, MO aint far from Kansas City, either.
                              "Flutie was better than Kelly, Elway, Esiason and Cunningham." - Ben Kenobi
                              "I have nothing against Wilson, but he's nowhere near the same calibre of QB as Flutie. Flutie threw for 5k+ yards in the CFL." -Ben Kenobi

                              Comment

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