WASHINGTON, February 10, 2010 – Google shook up the broadband world on Wednesday with the announcement, on its blog, that it plans to offer super-fast broadband, at speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second, to up to 500,000 homes.

Google framed its entrance into the marketplace to deploy fiber-optic services as a “testbed” to understand more about the way that consumers and businesses use internet applications when truly high-speed services are available.

“We’ll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections,” said Minnie Ingersoll and James Kelly, project managers at Google. “We plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.”

According to a survey of rural carriers conducted by the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, these rural providers are deploying fiber considerably faster than one would expect. Consumers are seeing an increase in broadband speeds due to the increase of fiber availability that was given to the communities, said NTCA.

WASHINGTON, October 14, 2009 – In a draft 232-page report that the Berkman Center of Harvard University conducted for the Federal Communications Commission – and was released by the agency on Wednesday – the United States was rated less-than-the-best in broadband performance.

ARLINGTON, Va., September 26, 2009 – Fiber to the home has been touted by many as the next great leap in broadband connectivity, and in Japan has already become the leading method of broadband connectivity, with speeds reaching 1 Gigabit per second.

July 25, 2009 – The non-profit group Open Cape Corporation this week announced that it had selected RCN Metro Optical Networks to build a fiber-optic network supporting Cape Cod, and that it will apply for an infrastructure grant under the broadband stimulus funds.

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2009 – Extending fiber-optic internet service to public libraries would help increase the demand for super-high-speed internet at home, broadband experts said Thursday.

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2009 – Broadband data collection needs to be more thorough and more transparent than currently existing models, a range of academic experts, builders of telecommunications infrastructure, and a key senator said last week.

DALLAS, April 27, 2009 – Fiber-optic technology is beginning to hit its stride in the marketplace, with nearly 13 percent of homes in North America now able to access the super high-speed broadband connectivity, aided by a big push by Verizon Communications.

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2009 – Drew Clark, Editor and Executive Director of BroadbandCensus.com, will be speaking during a general session of the Broadband Properties Summit, which opens in Dallas on Monday.

SILVER SPRING, Md., April 1, 2009 – Panelists speaking at the Freedom to Connect conference here on Tuesday hopefully urged the possibility that electrical “smart grids” could bring utilities into competition with incumbent telecommunications companies.