A recent article from the Associated Press stated that Arizona State University, located in Tempe, Arizona, is at work constructing a high-speed computer network designed to provide speeds 1,000 times faster than presently available anywhere in the area. The project, referred to as Gig U, is designed to attract high-tech companies to relocate or open new facilities near the campus.  In the past it has been established that the synergy between universities and high-tech companies benefits both. Internet speed is vitally important to these companies.  You can check the fastest speed available in your community by doing a search for internet service providers in your city.

Another reason why many schools are joining in with ASU on this, and similar projects, is because the United States is reportedly lagging well behind several other countries when it comes to Internet access speed. The U.S. reportedly needs high speed internet service providers that can develop much faster networks in order to keep up with many countries in Southeast Asia and Western Europe.  Frank Timmes, a professor of advanced computing skills at Arizona State said: “These countries have nationalized their efforts.  They know what they are doing. They are developing high-speed highways of information — much as the U.S. planned and built the Interstate highway system back in the 1950s.