Bay Area Cities Lobby for Google Fiber

Several Bay Area cities want a chance at Google Fiber, Google's free high-speed Internet access, and it seems San Jose is hoping it's a frontrunner.

San Jose needs all the luck it can get because it's competing with neighbors Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Santa Clara and Google's hometown of Mountain View, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal. In all, 34 cities applied to the program and had a May 1 deadline to share data with Google about is "infrastructure, permitting process, code and potential legal issue," the report said.

So far, San Jose must still figure out locations for fiber huts, or 28-foot long structures that will contain Google Fiber.

City spokesman David Vossbrink said that the city is already looking at potential locations and has $100,000 to help with implementation. If both Google and San Jose can agree on the huts, the city could move to vote on high-speed Internet service by May 13.

Google said that it hasn't made its selection yet, but it would likely make a decision by the end of the year.

“It’s kind of like applying for college,” Vossbrink said. “You’ve got to get all your stuff in by April 30, and then you wait until November to hear back.”

With so many nearby cities competing, San Jose is facing stiff competition.

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