OXFORD – If Stewart Rutledge has anything to say about it, residents here could download a high-definition movie in five minutes, or physicians could stream three-dimensional medical imaging for consultation with a specialist in other regions of the country.

More important, Oxonians could be looking at computing’s next generations before anyone else.

Google, the Web search-engine company from Mountain View, Calif., plans to build a communitywide, ultra-high-speed broadband network in one or more cities that would offer download speeds as high as one gigabit per second – more than 100 times as fast as most Americans have today – all, according to Google, “at a competitive price.”

Rutledge, an attorney, offered his services pro bono to campaign for Oxford to be one of the Google’s chosen communities. Aldermen voted Tuesday to have him lead the city’s effort.

“Google has said community support will be one criterion,” Rutledge said. “What we’re going to do is some of the ‘modern traditional’ methods – to have a Web site and a Facebook group as well as issuing press releases.”

The Web site – www.fiberforoxford.com – was scheduled to go live on Wednesday.

“Our goal is to experiment with new ways to help make Internet access better, and faster for everyone. Here are some specific things that we have in mind,” Google’s Web site says about the experiment. “We want to see what developers and users can do with ultra high-speeds, whether it’s creating new bandwidth-intensive “killer apps” and services, or other uses we can’t yet imagine.”

The project would be a perfect fit for Oxford, said one computing expert.

“I think it would be great to have ultra-high-speed Internet,” said Kyle McGreevey of Express Computer Service in Oxford, noting the high cost usually involved even for far less bandwidth than Google is proposing.

Rutledge said one factor in Oxford’s favor will be its population of “techies” who would test the limits of Google’s experiment and another segment of low-income residents who probably have little access to the Web.

“That makes Oxford uniquely positioned in that we have a small town with a lot to offer, and yet we’re committing to the underserved, too,” he said. “We fit the bill of what they’re wanting to achieve with this.”

Contact Errol Castens at (662) 281-1069 or errol.castens@djournal.com.