BROADBAND COMMUNITIES is the leading source of information on digital and broadband technologies for buildings and communities. Our editorial aims to accelerate the deployment of Fiber-To-The-Home and Fiber-To-The-Premises.
Issue link: https://bbcmag.epubxp.com/i/565727
28 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 COMMUNITY BROADBAND for the most part, be put in the city's right of way between the curb and the sidewalk, so for the practical matter, that's why I lead the efort," he explains. Reiger and Stovall started by reaching out to other Google cities (in addition to Kansas City–area cities, Austin, Texas, and Provo, Utah, had become Google cities by that time). Tey visited some of them, including Kansas City, where Aaron Deacon of KC Digital Drive provided considerable advice and support. "We were able to take what we learned from the other cities and put it into our plan much earlier," says Stovall. "In local government, there's always an advantage when someone else has done it frst; you don't have to reinvent the wheel. We had a lot of connections with Kansas City because several of our local government ofcials have afliations there through education or profession." Stovall himself had lived in the Kansas City area for seven years prior to coming to Charlotte. One signifcant similarity Stovall noticed right away was that Charlotte and Kansas City, Mo., shared the same city manager form of government, as opposed to the mayoral form. Te role of the city manager is similar to that of a company CEO, and the mayor's role is more like that of the chairman of the board. "It makes some diferences in the way that we execute that can be material in terms of how you build support, making sure everybody on the city council is on the same page," says Stovall. "Council members have a vote; the mayor doesn't." (A good thing, it turns out, as Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon resigned in March 2014 after being arrested on corruption charges, for which he was later convicted. His successor, Dan Clodfelter, was on hand for the Google announcement in January 2015.) WORKING AT THE SPEED OF GOOGLE Google expects to work fast, at a speed city governments rarely achieve. Still, the city of Charlotte had a few things working in its favor, including an already streamlined permitting process, one of Google's key concerns. "We didn't have to make any changes to our permitting process to accommodate Google," says Reiger. "Charlotte is unique among cities because we have created a streamlined, citywide utility right-of-way management program. Google comes to one place to get their permits, which gives them permission from city utilities, our tree folks and our right-of-way folks. It's a one-stop shop." Te completed checklist came to 118 pages and was delivered on deadline. Te process involved a lot of back-and-forth with the Google team, during which valuable relationships were formed. THE GRASSROOTS COMPONENT In February 2014, just after Google identifed Charlotte as a possible fber city, another conversation took place, this one between two local techies – Terry Cox, president of BIG Council, and Alan Fitzpatrick, COO of DC74 Data Centers. Tey fully comprehended the opportunity at hand. Cox immediately wrote a letter to Te Charlotte Observer urging the city to seize the moment. Next, the two formed CharlotteHeartsGigabit.com, a resource to update the community that included a newsletter and Twitter account. Soon they became an integral part of the city's efort to snag Google Fiber. Tey briefed the press, spoke at conferences and attended ofcial meetings. Cox stood on the podium with the mayor and Google reps when the announcement was made. Finally Charlotte had its grassroots component in place. Charlotte programmers participated in a multicity GigHacks event to develop gigabit applications. Photo credit: Lew Harford