Want Google to fire up ultra-fast fiberoptic Internet service in your town? Get in line. According to Google, over 1,100 communities submitted requests to be considered as test beds for its experimental fiber network.
The deadline to file passed last week, with city responses nearly doubling in the final hours. Google will now consult with local officials and third-party organizations to help winnow its choices. Eventually it will select one or more spots to lay down fiber for between 50,000 and 500,000 users, giving them speed approximately 100 times faster than what most Americans currently have access to.
A map posted by Google depicts every hopeful fiber candidate with small dots, and big dots for cities that had over 1,000 citizens respond.
Topeka, Kansas made waves earlier this month when it changed its name to Google, but other cities have piled on with the publicity stunts. The mayor of Duluth, Minnesota jumped into the icy waters of Lake Superior for it. The mayor of Sarasota, Florida jumped into a shark tank for it. Citizens in Greenville, South Carolina formed "Google" out of 2,000 LED glowsticks.
Google claims it will announce its final target communities by the end of 2010.
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