Google Announces Plans for Ultra High-Speed Fiber Network
It seems that Google has their finger in everything – apart from the ISP business. ISP is short for Internet Service Provider. As in the guys you pay to have access to the internet and use all of Google’s services – like the newly released Google Buzz. Your ISP’s best offer may be high-speed broadband access to the internet. Well, Google has one better: ultra high-speed broadband.
The Mountain View-based search engine giant announced that it plans to “build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States.” Google’s network will provide speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second, which is about 100 times better than what most Americans have nowadays. The fiber-to-home internet connection will be provided at a competitive cost to at least 50,000 people, with Google hoping it will potentially drum up about 500,000 people.
“Like our WiFi network in Mountain View, the purpose of this project is to experiment and learn. Network providers are making real progress to expand and improve high-speed Internet access, but there's still more to be done. We don't think we have all the answers – but through our trial, we hope to make a meaningful contribution to the shared goal of delivering faster and better Internet for everyone,” commented Product Managers with Google, Minnie Ingersoll and James Kelly.
According to Google, the fiber network experiment will target a few specific items:
- What ultra high-speed internet access can be used for.
- New ways of building fiber networks will be tested. Any important info brought to light will be shared with the public.
- The network will be “open access”; it will be operated in an “open, non-discriminatory and transparent way.”
“We're excited to see how consumers, small businesses, anchor institutions, and local governments will take advantage of ultra high-speed access to the Net. In the same way that the transition from dial-up to broadband made possible the emergence of online VoIP and video and countless other applications, we think that ultra high-speed bandwidth will lead to many new innovations – including streaming high-definition video content, remote data storage, distance learning, real-time multimedia collaboration, and others that we simply can't imagine yet,” commented Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel.
If you would like to see Product Manager James Kelly talk about Google’s experimental fiber network, a video is available on YouTube here.
The Mountain View-based search engine giant announced that it plans to “build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States.” Google’s network will provide speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second, which is about 100 times better than what most Americans have nowadays. The fiber-to-home internet connection will be provided at a competitive cost to at least 50,000 people, with Google hoping it will potentially drum up about 500,000 people.
“Like our WiFi network in Mountain View, the purpose of this project is to experiment and learn. Network providers are making real progress to expand and improve high-speed Internet access, but there's still more to be done. We don't think we have all the answers – but through our trial, we hope to make a meaningful contribution to the shared goal of delivering faster and better Internet for everyone,” commented Product Managers with Google, Minnie Ingersoll and James Kelly.
According to Google, the fiber network experiment will target a few specific items:
- What ultra high-speed internet access can be used for.
- New ways of building fiber networks will be tested. Any important info brought to light will be shared with the public.
- The network will be “open access”; it will be operated in an “open, non-discriminatory and transparent way.”
“We're excited to see how consumers, small businesses, anchor institutions, and local governments will take advantage of ultra high-speed access to the Net. In the same way that the transition from dial-up to broadband made possible the emergence of online VoIP and video and countless other applications, we think that ultra high-speed bandwidth will lead to many new innovations – including streaming high-definition video content, remote data storage, distance learning, real-time multimedia collaboration, and others that we simply can't imagine yet,” commented Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel.
If you would like to see Product Manager James Kelly talk about Google’s experimental fiber network, a video is available on YouTube here.
