Google Fiber has Raleigh and the Triangle on its short list for possible network deployment, and a senior executive will be in Raleigh next week to talk what gigabit Internet means to communities. 

Jill Szuchmacher, director of Business Development for Google Fiber, is the opening keynote speaker for the “From Gigabit Envy to Gigabit Deployed” conference. 

Google could make its next round of deployment choices public sometime this month. Google Fiber projects are already underway in Austin, Texas; Kansas City and Provo, Utah.

With AT&T now saying it’s committed to deploying the North Carolina Next Generation Network and a fiber decision still possible from Google, there’s more interest that ever in ultrafast Internet access for business and homes in the Triangle.

Let’s not forget, either, that Frontier is already rolling out fiber in Durham.

Gail Roper, chief information officer for the City of Raleigh, is one of the conference keynote speakers.

The Fiber to the Home Council, an industry organization based in Washington, D.C., is hosting one of a series of regional conferences in Raleigh on Dec. 9-10. The event promises a lineup of corporate and public sector executives.

The organization recently released a report that documented the economic benefits gigabit Internet networks can deliver. And FTTH wants to drive home that message at the conference. 

“Community, political and business leaders in places such as North Carolina and Tennessee recognize that FTTH communities are empowered communities,” said Heather Burnett Gold, president of the FTTH Council Americas, in advance of the conference. ”These communities, thanks to the opportunities of next generation networks, are gaining control over the factors that shape the lives of its residents, businesses and institutions. Fiber is on fire and I look forward to sharing catalytic resources and experts to upgrade broadband networks across the country.”

The full conference agenda is available online.

Here’s a partial list of companies and entities already scheduled to participate:

• ADTRAN, Inc.
• Alpina Capital, LLC
• Atlantic Telephone Membership Cooperative (ATMC)
• C Spire Wireless
• City of Raleigh, NC
• City of Starkville, MS
• City of Wilson, NC
• Clearfield Communications
• Co-Mo Comm
• Connected Nation
• Corning, Inc.
• CTC Technology & Energy
• Dycom Industries, Inc.
• EPB
• ERC Broadband
• FTTH Community Toolkit Committee
• GCEC Telecom
• Google
• Google Fiber
• Hargray Communications
• Home Telecom
• Jackson Energy Authority
• KC Digital Drive
• Kelley Drye & Warren, LLP
• Lumos Networks
• Magellan Advisors
• McAnany, Van Cleave & Phillips
• North Carolina Next Generation Network (NCNGN)
• OFS
• Peregrine Management Partners, LLC
• TE Connectivity, Ltd.
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• West Carolina Telephone