Google Passes On Grand Rapids

After much anticipation, Google has choosen Kansas City; and not Grand Rapids; to build its high-speed broadband network.  We and 1,000 other cities in America were in the running for the ultra fast network, which would have been 100 times faster than what is used now.

The company announced Wednesday that Kansas City is the first city to get the new program, called "Fiber for Communities."

In February 2010, the city of Grand Rapids applied to be a test market for the Google Fiber.

"How could we pass up an opportunity like this?" said Paul Klimas, the city information technology director.

The ultra-fast service would benefit consumers, said city information technology director Paul Klimas at the time, but also schools, government and business, including Grand Rapids' growing medical and life sciences sector.

WOOD-TV 8