Borough One of 1,100 Communities to Apply For Google High-Speed Internet

It's a competition that has seen some towns change their names, others create YouTube videos documenting what's best about them and still others hold public rallies in support of their towns' positive characteristics. But Borough Mayor Nelson Vaughan hopes Chatham's legacy as a former telecommunications hub will convince Google to bring its high-speed wireless network to the area as part of an experiment by the Internet giant.

The borough was one of about 1,100 communities to apply for what Google, in a blog post, is calling "experimental, ultra high-speed broadband networks" it will place in a limited number of towns and cities across the country. Google has said the Internet connection from the fiber-based networks will be very fast—so fast, in fact, that the networks will transmit 1 gigabyte of information per second. That is about 100 times faster than the Internet connection most of us are used to.

Google plans to serve between 50,000 and 500,000 people with the service.

Towns were required to submit their applications by Friday, but Vaughan filled out the application in early February, right after the contest was announced.

Topeka, Kan., officially changed its name to Google, Kan., for the month of March to draw attention to its bid. Sarasota, Fla., made a YouTube video—complete with an original song—that documented why it should be the place to get the fiber-optic connection, and Greenville, S.C., had a downtown rally to support its bid, during which residents spelled out "Google" as they held aloft Glo-sticks.

"I wasn't about to change Chatham to Googletown," Vaughan said.

So he took a more modest approach. In the application, he discussed how lots of post-World War II employees of AT&T lived in Chatham when its headquarters were in Manhattan.

"I emphasized the fact that this was a communications town," Vaughan said. "Back in the '50s and '60s, there were so many AT&T executives here, from the chairman of the board right on down."

He also talked about how the borough's wires are on poles—they are not underground. That fact, he said, would make it easier for Google to place its equipment needed for the network within the community.

"I tried to make the town look as attractive as possible," Vaughan said.

The large number of responses, however, may make it difficult for the borough to be chosen, and Vaughan said he would be "dumbfounded" if Google picked it. But he said he hopes Chatham is "at least able to be in the running."

Google is expected to announce the winners before the end of the year. About 194,000 individual residents submitted recommendations for their towns to be considered, and a map shows where most of the responses were concentrated.

All Chatham can do now is wait. Google said it plans to "conduct site visits, [meet] with local officials and [consult] with third-party officials" on the matter as the year progresses.

"It would an incredible honor for Chatham to be chosen," Vaughan said.