Locals came out strong to support Chapel Hill’s bid to bring a new high-speed internet service to the community. David Knowles of the Renaissance Computing Institute was one of them.

Knowles also says the network would allow Chapel Hill to create a host of new technological jobs.

The town is not alone in the efforts to work with Google. Carrboro and UNC have joined Chapel Hill in an application to bring Google Fiber to the communities.

The service is offered as part of a national competition being held by Google. The competition requires a community to be nominated via an online form. If selected, Chapel Hill would have the opportunity to allow the company to build a fiber-optic network that would enable users to browse the internet at 1 gigabyte per second speed.

At Monday’s public hearing, town council members also voiced their support for the service. Council member Laurin Easthom says that Chapel Hill is a prime location for the Google trial run because much of the planning for such infrastructure is already in place.

The deadline for applying is March 26th. More information on the town’s involvement with Google Fiber can be found at the town’s web site, www.townofchapelhill.org