Social Media, Connectivity & Communications

Missoula Mayor John Engen is holding a forum about the Google Fiber for Communities project from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM Thursday March 18, in Missoula City Council Chambers, 140 Pine St.

U.S. Senator Al Franken has been enlisted to lobby Google in a bid by two midwestern cities to get free upgrades to gigabit internet connections.

Broadband connection testing isn’t new, and is freely available online, but this might mark the first time that individual tests help to lead to informed policy making.

First there was Topeka, KS, which renamed itself by proclamation to Google, KS. Then Duluth, MN upped the ante by promising (comedically, we hope) to name all the town’s first-born children after Google. Then Greenville, SC entered the fray with their all-out “We Are Feeling Lucky” social media campaign that included a landing page, YouTube (YouTube) channel, Facebook events, and Twitter hashtag.

"It could be a huge jump-start to economic development," said Matt Ranta, a marketing manager in Missoula. "The technology businesses that will be attracted to cities where Google launches this program will be large in number."

“UTOPIA is a good candidate to partner with Google in the new project and to bring the experiment to well-prepped ground”

A $4.7 billion federal program funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to bring broadband infrastructure to underserved rural areas and encourage adoption of broadband services.

“A person’s ZIP code should never limit their access to learning, high-quality health care or a chance to grow a small business,” U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said. “Broadband access is no longer a luxury, it’s a must. …”

In conjunction with his UW speech, Ballmer also sent an e-mail to employees about Microsoft’s commitment to the future of computing. Read more about his philosophy here.

To lure Google’s ultra-high speed broadband trial to Topeka, Kan., Mayor Bill Bunten renames capital city after the search giant for the month of March.