The Charlotte Observer wrote a story today highlighting the status of Google Fiber in Charlotte. Reporter Megan Cassella interviewed representatives of Google, the City of Charlotte, and Charlotte Hearts Google. Highlights included:
Since the plan was finalized and submitted on May 1, teams of Google Fiber workers have been visiting the city “pretty regularly,” company spokeswoman Jenna Wandres said. One sat down with city planners at the end of last month to discuss permitting and approval processes, while others have been on the ground, surveying areas and counting utility poles.
Phil Reiger, assistant director for the city’s Department of Transportation and the project leader, said the June meeting with Google went well, and the company hadn’t asked anything the city felt was “unmanageable.” “What Google is proposing is a pretty major infrastructure investment,” Reiger said. “Disruption is inevitable.”
Wandres said Google will announce by the end of the year whether it’s going to build the fiber network in Charlotte. Until then, the company’s teams are doing things like checking to see where the cables will hang above the streets from existing utility poles and where they’ll have to be buried.
“It’s a big construction project, and we want to do it in the most efficient way possible,” Wandres said. “We’re trying to do everything we can to plan it well.”
Click here for the full Charlotte Observer article.