Google Twin Ports is an initiative led by the mayors of both Duluth and Superior, aimed at becoming one of a handful of locations in the United States for Google to build an ultra-high speed broadband network. If successful, it would allow residents of Duluth to pay about what they're paying now, for Internet 100 times faster than current top speeds. This would lead to all kinds of benefits for individuals and businesses, many of which haven't even been imagined yet.
For example, a rural health clinic near Duluth could stream three-dimensional medical images over the web, so the patient wouldn't have to drive several hours for an appointment to see a specialist. Students here could join others around the globe in watching a live lecture in 3D. Each person on the network could download a full high-definition movie in less than five minutes.
How fast? Google will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. Google says they'll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 people, and potentially up to 500,000 people. Google's main goals for this experiment are to spur interest in what's possible, if Internet speed is no object. Google wants to test a new way of building fiber networks and create an open network, so users will have more choice in who they buy Internet access from. In addition, Google wants to watch developers create a whole variety of new applications that currently aren't practical to create, due to lack of bandwith.
The initial meeting on the idea organized by Duluth Mayor Don Ness, occurred Feb. 15. In attendance were about 12 local IT professionals and entrepreneurs. The team has now expanded to include four committees all tackling different aspects of the proposal - from preliminary engineering of the project, to getting the communities involved.
Google Twin Ports has started A Facebook group and has already grown to over 20,300 fans, as of May 31, 2011.
