Kansas City Gets Gigabit Speeds. What About the Rest of Us?

[Commentary] Google's announcement that it will wire Kansas City with a gigabit network is going to throw a big spotlight on the deficiency between goals promoted in the National Broadband Plan and the vision promoted and amplified by Google.

Whereas the Broadband Plan’s 10-year goal is to have 100 Mbps in 100 million homes, and just 4 Mbps in rural areas, Google asked, what can you do with a gigabit in the next year or two? One great thing that should come from news coverage of Kansas City’s community stakeholders is that the real value of broadband finally will sink into more people’s minds. Google redefines the general perception of public-private partnerships in broadband. Google is going to win in a number of ways. The publicity alone is going to be huge when you consider how much it costs to generate the print and digital coverage it’s getting from this project. Then there’s the R&D value of Kansas City as a test bed for potential Google apps and networking. Ultimately, there is also a dollars-and-cents value of being a part or partial owner of the infrastructure, depending on how Google structured the deal with the city.