Members of Madison's Economic Development Committee discussed possible benefits of Google's broadband Internet experiment for the city of Madison Wednesday night.
Last month, Google announced it would select one or more areas to provide ultra-high speed Internet access through a program called Google Fiber.
According to Google, participant pools may range from 50,000 to 500,000 depending on their decision. Google Fiber Internet access would be more than 100 times faster than the average household.
According to Paul Kronberger, information technology director for the city of Madison, investment costs from Google may be as much as $97 million. He said there would be the potential to create hundreds of new jobs.
Kronberger said Madison might look attractive to Google because it recently became involved in Metropolitan Unified Fiber Network, a nearly $6 million federal grant program establishing a collaborative fiber-optic network in the Madison area.
""We think Madison is a great profile for this, but we ultimately don't know what our chances are,"" he said.
UW-Madison, the Madison metropolitan school district and area businesses have expressed interest, according to Kronberger.
Additionally, committee member Matthew Younkle said there has been an enthusiastic reaction to Google Fiber from the community.
""There clearly is a lot of support and a lot of excitement about this initiative,"" Younkle said. ""There are a lot of people who really want to help out.""
Committee members agreed the decision is hard to determine because Google's criteria is not detailed and their decision date is unknown.
""We want to try to channel this energy somehow, but we don't know how to,"" he said.
There will be a public meeting late next week to gain input on the potential project from Madison residents.
