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Ever since Google announced on February 10 that they’d be selecting one or more communities around the country to participate in an experiment to bring a fiber optic broadband network to those cities, Topeka has been set ablaze to become a part of it—us included.

There’s been a banding together of the community like most have never seen, spearheaded by Think Big Topeka and—although he doesn’t quite understand what it is —the mayor’s throwing his support behind it.

But despite all the hoopla, we keep finding that some people may not fully grasp the whole concept. So, the editors of seveneightfive have stepped away from the clamor of the bandwagon for a few moments to bring you a list of five things to know about the Google Fiber Experiment.

1. This is really fast internet. Like, game-changing fast. Google is touting this network as bringing internet speeds in excess of one gigabit per second. A gigabit is equal to 1024 megabits which means, to put it in perspective, it’s approximately 200 times faster than the 5 Mbps internet that you have at home, or up to 50 times faster than the really high-speed “Powerboosted” broadband that some of you Richie Rich types might have. That means you can download a whole movie in about two minutes. You know, if that were legal.
   But forget about your home internet—that’s just a bonus. Where this is really going to make a difference is how it can be applied in the different industries around Topeka—retail, tech companies, government, IT systems, education and especially health care—that could bring new companies and opportunities to the area. This opens a hell of a lot of doors.
2. Not everyone’s going to be happy, and rightfully so. It would be stupid on everyone’s part to expect that providers like AT&T and Cox would welcome Google with open arms. This is competition. And for a few reasons besides that, too.
   First, these are companies that have sunk millions—and probably billions—into their existing networks, and are continuing to do so. It’d be a little like an arts group from across the country walking into town and saying they want to erect a mural wall, complete with sculpture and interactive pieces and maybe even a video screen, and put it right in front of the Great Mural Wall. The community would probably think something like that would be fantastic, bring in all kinds of positive attention to the city and establish a great foundation for arts to take off from. But the folks over at Chords & Oil and all those others who put in countless hours and resources into the current wall would understandably be pretty upset at all their work being negated. So, I wouldn’t expect either of those companies to like this. (For the record, we love the Great Mural Wall and everything Chords & Oil has brought to the community. They were just a handy example.)
   Second, Google’s a big proponent of net neutrality, and most big corporations aren’t. Not because they want to censor stuff coming over the internet—most companies, in fact, comply with most of the tenets of net neutrality in practice—but because it means government-mandated regulations requiring them to do so. You know—it’s a political thing.
   Third, even though Google says they’re going to let other providers use their network to provide service, they haven’t said if or how much they plan to charge those companies to use that network. That would make those big companies a little jittery when they take a glance at their bottom line.
   Last, there’s the possibility that it could result in some people losing their jobs. Chances are that, should Topeka be selected, this could result in a big net gain of jobs for the community. But that doesn’t take the sting out when AT&T and Cox start cutting people because they no longer have as large a volume of customers or a bunch of lines that need maintained. This is that side of progress people tend not to linger on. When the telephone entered into the American mainstream, there were a whole lot of telegraph operators that were suddenly out of work. Employees at AT&T and Cox—not the suits in the office, but the guys on hourly wages—are likely a little testy and a little worried about it, and we can’t blame them.  This is the nature of change.
3. Google isn’t being entirely forthcoming with the details. Their initial release is extremely skimpy on the details. Their FAQ page is even skimpier. Granted, their announcement was for a Request for Information from municipalities, which means they’re just trying to gauge interest, see which communities are willing to work with them and the infrastructure obstacles in installing their network. In all likelihood, the cities that are accommodating when there’s a lack of information might tend to be the easier places to work with, so Google’s keeping their cards close to the vest, as it were. But still, there’s no indication that this will come at no cost to whichever communities they choose, and the actual rate they charge consumers hasn’t been announced yet. As Grandpappy used to say, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Which means that, while this is an exciting prospect, don’t place it on par with manna from heaven just yet.
4. There’s a lot of competition out there. Google didn’t just request information from a select list of places. They sent this out to the whole country. Places like Pittsburgh and Seattle quickly threw their hats in the ring as contenders, so the competition is going to be stiff. And like with the rest of the info, Google isn’t completely specific about what they’re looking for in a city. In addition to things like infrastructure, government cooperation and private sector interest, are they looking at things like population density? Quality of life? Number of tech companies? Who knows?
   

   One thing is for sure, though. Topeka’s getting more headlines and catching more attention than any other community in the country. With the announcement that the city will be known as Google, Kansas for the rest of the month, we made national news. The question remains: Will it be enough?

5. You should be very, very excited. This is a huge opportunity for the city and region, and the more support it gets from the community, the more chance Topeka has of seeing it become a reality. Let’s face it: there could be any number of variables involved in Google’s selection process that we can’t control. But community fervor is something completely ours to manipulate. So get involved with Think Big Topeka, nominate our city and join us as Top City’s biggest cheerleaders.