* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL
Introduced by: The Council President, Councilmembers Clarke and Henry
At the request of: The Administration
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL concerning
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Google Fiber for Communities for Baltimore
FOR the purpose of supporting Baltimore's proposal to serve as a trial location for the Google Fiber for Communities program, encouraging Google to invest in ultra high speed internet in Baltimore, and inviting Google to learn more about the many ways that Baltimore and Google could work together to ensure the success of the Google Fiber for Communities experiment.
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Recitals
In February Google announced that it would begin accepting responses from communities across the United States interested in taking part in its "Google Fiber for Communities" initiative. Through this program, Google plans to create and test ultra-high speed broadband networks that will provide internet connection speeds of over 1 gigabit per second. In an effort to encourage the evolution of the internet throughout the U.S., these networks will be made available to 50,000 to 500,000 people in selected communities and will offer speeds more than 100 times faster than what is generally available today in North America.
Selecting Baltimore would build on the City's long legacy of technological advancements and transformational innovation. The prospect of access to the internet at these speeds would reaffirm Baltimore's prominence as a center in the programming and technology fields. Recently ranked as the 8th most wired American city by Forbes magazine based on the number of Wi-Fi hotspots and companies seeking to provide broadband services, Baltimore is primed to take advantage of Google's fiber network. Once that network was in place it would present nearly limitless opportunities to both the elite hospitals, universities, museums, and research institutions that make Baltimore one of the nation's true knowledge centers, and the City's growing class of home grown technology entrepreneurs. Baltimore is also a force in the biotech industry, with two biotech parks located on either side of the City who would be ready and eager to make use of ultra-high speed internet access to create next generation applications.
This unparalleled ability to quickly demonstrate the potential uses of ultra-high speed internet connections is one of the many factors that makes Baltimore uniquely well suited to host Google's Fiber for Communities program. Google has indicated that it wants to work with a community where it can bring significant benefits to residents, develop useful proofs of concept that can have a broader impact, and spur the development of a broad range of applications for consumers, medical institutions, and educators. Baltimore is an inimitable location with cultural, business, and institutional assets with ready uses for an enhanced high speed broadband infrastructure. Despite the robust mix of jobs in the high tech, bio-medical, manufacturing, education, financial, and service sectors, much of the City is currently under-served by existing internet providers. By choosing Baltimore for the Google Fiber for Communities program, Google could help to bridge this digital divide - immediately improving the lives of many disadvantaged families while proving that the urban deployment of these technologies can unlock potential in many areas.
For all of these reasons, and many more, Baltimore would be the perfect fit for Google Fiber for Communities. An unprecedentedly broad array of City organizations have already joined together to express the overwhelming public support for the idea of hosting Google's fiber network experiment here. Since there is a clear consensus that Baltimore is the best and most appropriate city in America to invest in new blazing fast internet infrastructure, Baltimore City will be applying to participate in the Google Fiber for Communities program.
SECTION 1. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Mayor and City Council fully support Baltimore's application to host the Google Fiber for Communities program and they encourage Google to invest in ultra high speed internet in Baltimore.
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That representatives from Google are invited to visit Baltimore, or contact the City's Google Czar, Tom Loveland, to learn more about the many ways that Baltimore and Google could work together to ensure the success of the Google Fiber for Communities experiment.
SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this Resolution takes effect on the date it is enacted.
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