San Antonio city leaders are heading to Austin today to study the Greater Austin Area Telecommunications Network (GAATN).
It connects places like schools, police stations, libraries, and universities to a fiber network for large information sharing abilities.
GAATN is very similar to the Alamo City's proposed San Antonio Area Broadband Network, or SAABN.
Leaders in San Antonio hope to use fiber lines put in place by CPS Energy years ago to connect universities, hospitals, public safety entities, and others, to a network where the organizations will have vast capabilities in research and large file sharing.
District 8 Councilman Ron Nirenberg said since Austin's a Google Fiber city, and San Antonio hopes to become one, that city leaders would benefit to learn the advantages of fiber lines like GAATN.
"Austin is also a Google Fiber city, so we can see how these two parallel networks operate in tandem to create a 21st Century digital community," said Nirenberg. "So in that sense it'll give our stakeholders a glimpse into what San Antonio can become."
Former District 3 Councilwoman Leticia Ozuna, who began the discussions at large on SAABN, will attend the tour, along with District 1 Councilman Diego Bernal, San Antonio Chief Technology Officer Hugh Miller and Library Director Ramiro Salazar.
