Off−campus residents may soon become the guinea pigs for Google's new ultra−high−speed Internet connection, pending the success of Somerville's application in the company's ongoing selection process.
The service, a broadband network, which relies on a Fiber−to−the−Home (FTTH) system, would provide customers with connection speeds of up to one gigabit per second, easily surpassing its competitors.
The City of Somerville announced in a Feb. 11 press release that it has responded to Google's Request For Information (RFI) to identify community partners, and is seeking to become a site for the new network's trial period.
While students living on campus and using on−campus Internet services will not be affected a great deal by the new network, those living in off−campus houses and apartments may eventually become Google clientele if they choose its service.
University Information Technology (UIT) Manager of Network Engineering Philip Pascale said that Google's network would provide a competitive alternative to services like Verizon's FiOS Internet and Comcast, which currently have connection speeds of 20 megabytes and 50 megabytes, respectively.
"What [Google]'s proposing would be significantly faster," Pascale said. He could not comment on the service's cost, as Google has yet to establish a monthly rate, except to say that it would be competitive.
The company's press office could not be reached for comment.
On campus, students already have access to a wired connection with potential speeds of one gigabit per second, though this is sometimes inhibited by software performance, according to Pascale.
"Having a high−speed connection is one piece of it, but having the computing power on your laptop is the other part of it," he said.
These speeds are also only accessible at the majority of wired locations. Wireless connection speeds are more often slower, ranging between 54 megabytes per second to 130 megabytes per second.
According to the company's Web site, Google plans to provide the service to between 50,000 and 500,000 households nationally during its short trial period and plans to solicit responses from local governments as well as the public.
While Pascale said the news of the service was mostly relevant to the city, Somerville officials are highlighting the city's student population in an effort to increase its chances of being selected.
Somerville Deputy Director of Communications Jaclyn Rossetti pointed to the student population as a technologically savvy demographic that makes the city a better candidate.
"Obviously, a lot of students do live in Somerville and utilize businesses in the city," Rossetti told the Daily.
She added that both the density and diversity of the population in the area will hopefully make it an attractive candidate.
Though the application process has been time−intensive and requires much information gathering on the part of city officials, it will likely be completed by Google's March 26 deadline, according to Rossetti.
"We're hopeful that we're one of the cities that is highly considered for it and we're extremely hopeful that we'll be selected," she said.
Though Google's service will offer a much faster connection, Rossetti thinks the other providers will stay in the business and should keep their spot in the market.
"We would like to have different options available to our community residents," she said. "That's what we're hoping for — more competition."
Pascale added that the possibility was an interesting development that UIT would keep an eye on.
"This is something that has just recently been brought to our attention, so I think we'll continue to watch it closely, as it might mean improved service for our students and faculty that live in the area," he said. "It may afford members alternatives and competition to the current providers with a higher−performing service."
