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The video conference industry is a direct beneficiary of the visionary leadership of the Intelligent Community Forum.
In July 2012, Google launched FIBERHOODS; a high-speed service in Kansas City that offers homeowners 1Gbps upload or download speeds for about 70$ per month. They are giving away the old 5Mbps service, for free.
Communities building their own high-speed networks
However, Google "Fiberhoods" are not a first. Challenged by the high cost of the meager bandwidth available, other communities across the USA and Canada (and globally) are banding together with their municipal leadership to build their own high-speed networks. They are not waiting for Telcos.
Bristol, Virginia, for example, has enjoyed gigabyte upload and download speeds for the last 10 or 11 years.
These municipalities are not interested in competing with giant Telcos, and generally prefer to collaborate with them. But some find it necessary to go it alone in pursuit of a much larger prize, and they are wiling to face lawsuits from Telcos to do it.
The prize is not bandwidth or profit from this essential service. The grand prize is Gross Domestic Product + JOBS!
Bristol, for example, experienced a 2% increase in higher paying jobs as a direct result of ultra-high speed broadband.