A2Fiber initiative moves forward, selects video winner

Just because the Google Fiber application is in doesn’t mean the A2Fiber team can go home. The combination of officials from the city of Ann Arbor and University of Michigan are still working on both the public stage and behind the scenes to make it to the next round of selection process.”We’d like to have an ongoing public conversation,” says Tom Crawford, CFO for the city of Ann Arbor and the project manager for A2Fiber. “We’re still very excited about this.”The latest part of that public conversation is the recent announcement of the A2Fiber’s YouTube contest winner. Jeff Hayner won a 32 Gig Apple iPad for producing a 1:42 short film staring Lego characters extolling the virtues of what Google’s Fiber community project could do for Ann Arbor and what Ann Arbor can do for it. Watch the video here.Google plans to build and test ultra-high speed broadband networks in a small number of communities across the country. These lines will stream data at 1 gigabit per second, about 100 times faster than most Americans get through their current cable and DSL providers.A number of communities across Metro Detroit followed Ann Arbor’s lead and made an application, including Royal Oak, Birmingham, Rochester and Detroit, among others. Ann Arbor’s application included a large public rally, a Facebook fan page and the YouTube contest. Local officials are still brainstorming ways to keep its momentum going this spring, summer and until Google makes an announcement about the contest.Local officials are also working behind the scenes to streamline the city’s bureaucracy to fit the Google Fiber project. That includes everything from reforming the city’s permit process, right-of-way and other city policies that could potentially impact the project.”It’s just the inner workings of government and the permit process we’re going through,” Crawford says.Source: Tom Crawford, CFO for the city of Ann Arbor and the project manager for A2FiberWriter: Jon Zemke