Google Fiber and Hilton Head Island: A Partnership in Paradise

Hilton Head Island is in the running for Google's trial of Google Fiber. Google Fiber is an experimental ultra-high speed broadband network that will be capable of delivering Internet connectivity speeds one hundred times faster than most Americans are able to receive through their current broadband networks.

The Federal Communications Commission defines broadband as connectivity speeds that exceed 768 Kbps (kilobits per second). That is 768,000 bits of information per second being transferred to and from your computer. Google Fiber will introduce ultra-high speed Internet access through fiber to the home (FTTH) at speeds of 1Gbps (Gigabits per second). This is the equivalent of 1 billion bits of information per second.

This is new technology that has been offered in select communities around the world, and now Google wants to make it available to select communities throughout the United States at rates that would be competitive with standard broadband charges. Google would like to offer this experimental service to communities of more than 50,000 residents but less than 500,000 residents on an experimental basis, and hopes to gain information from this project that will improve Internet access everywhere.

Recently a website called googlefiber.com, which claims no affiliation with Google itself, launched a campaign to monitor interest from cities across the country. On this site Internet users are encouraged to vote daily to show their interest in bringing this new technology to their city.

Emerging from the warm waters of the southeastern United States is Hilton Head Island. Hilton Head is a small island located near just north of Savannah, Georgia in South Carolina's Lowcountry. With a mix of year round and seasonal residents, Hilton Head Islands' population can swell to up to 300,000 residents in the summer months.

The residents range from the descendants of Gullah slaves to the who's who of entertainment, sports, politics, and most everyone who is mesmerized by the warm waters of the Atlantic and the inviting scenery and history this one of a kind island has to offer. The lifestyle is leisurely and a week on Hilton Head can give a visitor a bad case of carpel tunnel syndrome from all the waving they must do. Everyone waves in the south. It's the polite thing to do.

It's not just the locals who want to bring Google Fiber to the island, but also transplants and visitors from around the world. Chef Robert Irvine, star of the Food Network show Dinner Impossible is a resident and has his restaurant Robert Irvine's eat! on Hilton Head. He was asked by a fan on his official Facebook page to support this cause, and immediately posted a positive response in support.

Currently, on Googlefiber.com, Hilton Head Island sits in fourth place, less than 3000 votes behind third place Duluth, Minnesota. In the last week, Hilton Head has climbed four spots with residents and visitors showing their support. In the same time period , Topeka, Kansas lost all their votes and was reset to zero when several men were caught running malicious scripts to increase that city's tally. Asheville, NC and Greenville, SC currently lead the voting.

It's easy to show your interest in Google Fiber. Help out this small town that will be a model city for this experiment. Go to Google fiber and vote for Hilton Head Island today.