Royal Oak, Rochester go for Google Fiber

The bevy of Metro Detroit municipalities that are vying to become Google Fiber communities reads like a list of the best of the best when it comes to vibrant city centers in southeast Michigan.Ann Arbor, Birmingham, and Detroit have now been joined by Royal Oak and Rochester. The cities believe they have what it takes to get on board with what promises to be the fastest broadband program in the world. And they all see it as a chance to bring even more value and economic opportunity to local residents and businesses.”Everybody is thinking the same thing,” says Nicholas Banda, director of economic and community development for the city of Rochester, which is teaming up with Rochester Hills in its bid. “This is just another edge.”Google plans to build and test ultra-high speed broadband networks in a small number of communities across the country. These lines will stream data at 1 gigabit per second, about 100 times faster than what most Americans get through their current cable and DSL providers.Local metros are touting their advantages from varied economic landscape (Detroit) to a combination of suburban and urban infrastructure (Ann Arbor). Ann Arbor and Birmingham are also home to two of Google’s offices, including the search engine’s AdWords headquarters in downtown Ann Arbor.Source: Nicholas Banda, director of economic and community development for the city of RochesterWriter: Jon Zemke