There are hundreds of community organizations here in Austin who work to make our city better every day. For these groups, having more resources means that they can help more people. For example, more canned food means a food bank can feed more families, and more computers means that a career development center can help more people build resumes and search for jobs.
Reliable, affordable access can be a valuable resource too; that’s why Google Fiber is donating ten years of free high-speed Gigabit Internet (with speeds up to 100x faster than the average American connection) to 100 community organizations throughout Austin. Last night, the City Council selected which groups would get access to the service. The full list of selected “Community Connections” sites is available on the City Council’s website.
One important thing to note is that in order for a Community Connection to get Fiber, its surrounding area, or “fiberhood,” needs to qualify for service first. So when you sign up for Google Fiber next year, you’re also helping these local community organizations get one step closer to getting Fiber, too.
This whole process will take awhile — it will probably be over a year before we can even start making these Community Connections. But until then, we’re excited to get to know these organizations and hear about their plans for how they want to use their Fiber connection.
