AUSTIN

Gov. Rick Perry today applauded Texas’ progress and hard work in taking another step forward towards becoming the nation’s hub for innovation, collaboration and competition in technology development and manufacturing. The governor participated in an announcement with Google Inc. regarding the installment of Google Fiber in Austin, Texas. Google Fiber is an ultra high-speed broadband network with internet speeds up to 1 gigabyte per second. “With the installment of Google Fiber, the case can be made that Texas is one step closer to becoming the nation’s next technological hub, inviting some of the boldest and most creative visionaries to call Austin their home,” Gov. Perry said. “This announcement plays right into the Texas tradition of freedom, enterprise and innovation, proving that companies and their community’s connection with the internet has never been more essential to operate.” The governor highlighted Texas’ leading role as the country’s epicenter for economic development; as well as Austin’s rising star in the well-wired community of high-tech companies. The addition of a new internet provider in Austin will help unleash the competitive, entrepreneurial spirit that has made Texas a national leader in technology. Google Fiber started as a project to build an experimental broadband network infrastructure using fiber-optic communications in Kansas City, Kansas. Today, at up to 1000 Mb per second, Google Fiber is 100 times faster than the average internet speed, allowing users the ability to download what they want almost instantaneously.