In what some might see as an improbable scenario, a group of entrepreneurs envision a 1 Gbps service as the pathway to making Detroit a "technology hub."
According to a story in Michigan Radio, Rocket Fiber, a super high-speed Internet service headed to downtown Detroit, is using Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Fiber as a template for a similar service in Detroit. As a sounding board, Marc Hudson, one of Rocket Fiber's trio of co-founders, tossed the idea to The Cheese Factory's IT department.
"People just went nuts. We could tell right away there was a lot of traction there, a lot of excitement around doing something similar to Google Fiber in Detroit," he said.
The startup's goal is to "bridge the digital divide in Detroit," a goal about as difficult as it sounds since about 60 percent of Detroit's residents don't have fixed line broadband--"a staggering number to think about in 2015." It's a reason Rocket Fiber is looking for ways to give these neighbors high-speed Internet and television via a "really unique cable TV service" that will "go head to head with all the incumbent providers that exist" in the Detroit environs," Hudson said.
But that's the second step. The first step is to build out a downtown network that will "throw gas" on a fire of "of entrepreneurship and technology endeavors going on downtown right now," Hudson said.
For more:
- read this Michigan Radio story
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