Testing the GigaCity
Getting Fast in KC
In March 2011, Google named Kansas City, Kan. the site of its first attempt to connect homes to its own fiber-optic network, appropriately named Google Fiber. It soon added the synonymous city across the river, Kansas City, Mo., to the list, and now these two mid-sized metropolises are on track to get the fastest broadband in the country (proclaims one local billboard: “Kansas City, you are now faster than New York City). The dream of a gigabyte in every pot has won the pair of cities new friends from around the world. There is little doubt the 21st-century city will be a connected one; tech media veteran Nancy Scola takes a look at the promises being made to ask if an experimenting Silicon Valley giant and the people of Kansas City can forge a path to get there together.
- Learn why Google is developing a digital hub in the heartland.
- Read about the tech giant's strategies for working with Kansas Citians to get its Fiber network off the ground.
- Gain understanding of how this latest Google project fits into the larger debate over how to best wire a city.
