Overland Park, Google Fiber Logjam Resolved. Or Not.
by Karl Bode 07:29AM Tuesday Oct 15 2013
Updated with information suggesting Overland Park won't be getting Google Fiber anytime soon. Most cities have rather quickly buckled to Google's demands in order to get Google Fiber into their towns, even if those deals aren't particularly great for the communities themselves. Recently, Overland Park Kansas became the first city to hold up Google Fiber over indemnification and liability concerns.
Speculation was rife that the delay was courtesy of efforts by Time Warner Cable or some other incumbent (Sprint's headquarters is in Overland Park), but according to local radio outlet KMBZ, Overland Park's concerns appear to have been resolved and the city is poised to approve Google Fiber's entry into the market.
Update: Perhaps not. A user in our comment section below claims he was at the meeting this week and states (though I've been unable to confirm this with Google Fiber yet) that Google may have put Overland Park on hold after the trouble they faced:
Quote:
Seems the Overland Park Council was a day late and a dollar short. After they agreed to the new agreement their lawyers worked on - Google Said no thanks - and asked for an "Indefinite Continuation" with the understanding they could re-present their agreement at any time in the future. The Google Rep gave no indication of when that might be - if ever.
Clearly Google was saying to Overland Park and other cities - if you make this process too difficult for us - we will pick up our ball and go play somewhere else.
The Overland Park City council had looks of shock and horror on their faces when the Google Rep broke the news. Then in an act of total desperation the OP city council quickly and awkwardly proposed and passed a resolution "expressing the enthusiasm Overland Park has for Google Fiber" it was really a pathetic act by a council that messed this up so horribly last month.
It is safe to say if you had aspirations to be on the City council or to be the Mayor of Overland Park - the next elections are going to be a good time to run. Everyone on the council needs to go.
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Update 2: Someone has posted the audio minutes from the Overland Park meeting, confirming that Google has requested an "indefinite continuance," and now has now timeline for when or if they'll offer Google Fiber in Overland Park.