SACRAMENTO: High-speed access to the Internet and cable television could soon hit the hyper-fast lane in Orange County, thanks to one of the biggest names in technology: Google.
The company’s Google Fiber division announced Thursday that it has tapped Irvine, a city known for its tech industry and educated and affluent residents, for its list of possible expansion cities.
The so-called gigabit network offers blazing-fast broadband speeds about 100 times that of standard Internet service. That means downloading a movie to a computer in seconds, rather than minutes (or longer). For workplaces, it speeds communication and data transfers.
The move – Google Fiber’s first foray into Southern California – could trigger an avalanche of high-speed Internet from competitors across the county.
Next up for Irvine is the homework.
The city must provide Google Fiber a list of assurances – such as access to existing equipment and obstacle-free permitting – in an effort to persuade the company to install its network. Then city officials wait.
In other cities that use Google Fiber, the wait time from invite to confirmation was about a year. So far, no proposed Google Fiber city has been later rejected.
The tech giant’s fiber-optic network debuted three years ago in the Kansas City metro area; it soon expanded to Austin, Texas, and Provo, Utah.
More lines are under construction in Atlanta and Nashville, Tenn. San Diego and Louisville, Ky., also were added to the expansion list Thursday.
So how does little Irvine, with its significantly smaller population, attract a behemoth like Google?
The city, Orange County’s third-largest, is home to a population that most likely uses fast broadband at home.
Census data shows high-speed Internet users at home tend to be young, affluent, highly educated, Asian or white residents of metropolitan areas.
Irvine is one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation, with a population that is skyrocketing amid a blaze of building.
In the past five years, it’s added 38,000 residents – an 18 percent bump – and more than half of the county’s new housing.
In a blog post Thursday, the company described the expansion targets as “growing tech hubs with entrepreneurial cultures.”
Irvine – no stranger to innovation – is home to a slew of technology firms, including chipmaker Broadcom, Blizzard Entertainment and Quest Software. Last year it lost Oculus, a hot virtual-reality startup to Facebook in Menlo Park.
Mayor Steven Choi said installation of a fiber-optic network would dovetail with his initiative to position Irvine as the Silicon Valley of Southern California, or Irvine Tech Valley.
City leaders’ enthusiasm for super-fast service helped convince the Fiber team Irvine might be a good fit, said Jill Szuchmacher, the division’s director of expansion.
Its collaborative workplaces were also a factor, she said. In March, tech incubator EvoNexus and The Irvine Co. partnered to open the Vine incubator in University Research Park.
“We’re thrilled Irvine is one of the cities we’ll be working with,” Szuchmacher said.
