Last week, Google made the surprise announcement that they are targeting 34 more cities for their Google fiber service. Short of guaranteeing that all of the targeted cities will ultimately receive the service, Google did state that their intention is to deploy in each of the named cities. However, after running into various logistical hurdles in other cities post-announcement, Google has decided to pre-announce cities as targets with the hope of having a sort of open conversation with local governments and organizations within each of the targeted cities that Google will need to coordinate with in order to make the deployment a reality.

I’m incredibly excited about the possibility of Google fiber reaching our area. Even if it never becomes a reality, I hope it’s at least enough to kick the incumbents into gear to improving their own infrastructure and driving down their prices (that reads like a business 101 oxymoron). I’m also excited that it reinforces what many in this area have known for years – that Raleigh-Durham is a thriving, growing area – ready to invest, ready to adapt, and open to doing what it takes to continue to build a next generation city.

Photo Credit: Rodney T | Flickr