The six-week rally during which Kansas Citians could pre-register for Google Fiber closed on Sunday, and at least 180 of 202 “fiberhoods” in Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo. qualified for Google’s ultra high-speed internet service, project general manager Kevin Lo said Sunday in a post on the Google Fiber Blog.
On Thursday, Google Fiber will share the final list of fiberhoods that submitted enough pre-registrations to qualify for service (the number may exceed 180, depending on final tabulations). Google Fiber will also provide information about the order in which neighborhoods will receive Fiber and share other details about the future of the project.
In Sunday’s blog post, Lo praised Kansas City’s efforts throughout the rally process, echoing a refrain frequently expressed by Google representatives since the company announced its rally plan in late July. In particular, Lo mentioned ad hoc efforts to raise awareness of the importance of internet access and to lessen the digital divide in Kansas City:
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We’ve been truly inspired by, and have learned so much from, the efforts of local nonprofits, community centers, libraries, schools, and churches to pre-register their neighbors. And we want to continue working with these groups as they promote digital literacy throughout the community.
Lo discussed some statistics related to the project, saying three fiberhoods qualified for Google Fiber in the first day of the rally and another 63 hit their marks in the last week. To those fiberhoods that didn’t reach the threshold, Lo offered this:
Together we’ve made good progress during this pre-registration period, but there’s still work to be done. Some fiberhoods won’t qualify this time around. If you live in one of those fiberhoods, we want you to know that we’ve heard your concerns. We will include you in a future rally sometime next year, when you can try to qualify for Fiber again.
Stay tuned to Silicon Prairie News in the coming days for more on the rollout of Google Fiber.