Alexandria is on the cusp of joining a nationwide bidding brawl to become one of just a handful of cities plugged into a new, supercharged form of Internet technology.
Google Inc. is planning to test-drive a “ultra-high-speed” type of Internet connection service — dubbed “Google Fiber” — in one or possibly several cities across the country.
The new technology will deliver information at speeds of 1 gigabit per second, or more than 100 times faster than the Internet connections most people now use in their homes or at work.
Alexandria residents are pleading with city officials to respond to Google’s “request for information,” the first step in the bidding process.
“When Google first made mention of this last month, we got a slew of e-mails from citizens encouraging the city to consider participating,” Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille said.
Euille said he hoped to be able to accommodate his constituents’ request, though he had not reviewed his staff’s recommendation.
Experts say the technology could open the door to near-limitless possibilities, many of which will not be known until the service is widely available. But multimedia content such as online video that currently requires minutes to download would take mere seconds on a 1-gigabit connection.
Towns across the nation are clamoring for the opportunity to serve as one of the technology company’s guinea pigs.
Topeka, Kan., Mayor Bill Bunten proclaimed his city would unofficially change its name to “Google” for the month of March in the hopes of seducing the tech behemoth. In Virginia, Hampton and Charlottesville have expressed intentions to bid.
Google officials have been tight-lipped, but the Mountain View, Calif., company’s Web site says one or several sites will be chosen sometime this year. Between 50,000 and 500,000 people will have access to the trial service for a fee comparable to normal Internet service rates.
The Alexandria City Council is scheduled to make a final decision next week in advance of Google’s March 26 deadline.
