Gig.U Universities are excited about the opportunities provided by the Gigabit Neighborhood Gateway Program.
“We are excited about today’s Gigabit Neighborhood Gateway project announcement because it builds momentum to unleash a new wave of innovative possibilities,” said “An open architecture platform would permit our faculty, staff, and students to explore and innovate new ways to interact in a hyper-connected world.”
“Ultra-fast broadband to the home is a critical issue for the future economic vitality of the United States and it’s particularly critical for communities like Ann Arbor that have top-notch research and innovative universities like the University of Michigan. The Gigabit2 Project is an exciting opportunity for communities to provide such services to its residents.”
“This investment by Gigabit Squared represents an exciting new partnership between the private and public sectors. It meshes well with the Gig.U initiative in which the University, Chapel Hill and Carrboro are partnering to provide next-generation network connectivity to our citizens, anchor institutions and local businesses. This kind of high-speed connectivity is critical to innovation and competitiveness for our communities.”
“The U.S. has the very best universities in the world, but our country’s broadband infrastructure has lagged. This project will put the U.S. and its university communities in the lead with world-class broadband. Broadband is now critical infrastructure for university communities as much as classrooms, labs, roads and residence halls.”
“Broadband is absolutely critical for university communities, just as much as classrooms, labs, roads and residence halls are.”
“University communities across the nation play a critical role in innovation and competitiveness, and initiatives that improve bandwidth and shrink the digital divide will ensure that we remain vibrant and relevant. Efforts such as this help build a stronger community.”
“Having access to high-speed Internet could bring about unprecedented change for local community members, increasing performance several thousand times in homes or businesses,” he stated. “We’re excited by today’s announcement that the Gigabit Neighborhood Gateway Program will put $200 million to work and provide a group of university communities with world-leading broadband networks.”
“Our ability to attract businesses that benefit from using high-speed networking technology, especially in parts of the county where broadband service is lacking could be an important opportunity for many in our community. Today’s Gigabit Squared announcement demonstrates there are new models for the private sector, public institutions and communities to leverage existing assets to provide next generation network capacity to their citizens.”
Karl Kowalski, Chief Information Technology Officer, University of Alaska System
“The University of Alaska applauds today’s announcement that the Gigabit Neighborhood Gateway project will put $200 million to work and provide a select group of university communities with world-leading broadband networks. It’s vital for universities such as ours, to provide leadership in areas critical to American innovation and competitiveness. As one of America’s last frontiers, we are often the first and the last to benefit from new technologies and innovations. First, in that we must be innovative and entrepreneurial in order to meet Alaska’s unique needs. Last, in that the mere size, scale and remoteness of Alaska does not often allow for economies of scale in deployment of new technologies.
With a major focus on climate, geographic, biological and economic research, the University of Alaska, its students, faculty and citizens of Fairbanks would provide a vibrant test-bed to incentivize the creation of next-generation services and solutions for all Alaskans.
Today’s announcement confirms that universities across the country and their surrounding communities represent a unique opportunity for private investment and present the favorable economic criteria to encourage private investors to deploy the funding necessary for creating world-leading networks.
This announcement also demonstrates that there are new models for the private sector, public institutions and communities to leverage existing assets to provide next generation network capacity to their citizens.
We look forward to learning more and commend Gigabit Squared on their efforts so far.”