Update on Google's Ultra High-Speed Fiber Network: More Time to Select a Community

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 17 Dec 2010

If you have been keeping an eye on the Google ultra high-speed fiber network story, then let’s get straight to the update. The Mountain View-based search engine giant has announced that it needs more time to select the communities where it will test out its ultra high-speed fiber network. Everybody was hoping Google would make up its mind by the end of 2010, but I guess that’s no longer the case.

Vice President of Access Services, Milo Medin, announced that the response to Google’s ultra high-speed fiber network experiment has been incredibly. By “incredible” I mean that about 1,100 communities from across the US of A signed up. That’s a big number; definitely bigger than what Google was expecting when it announced this experiment. And because so many communities showed an interest in the experiment, Google needs more time to make up its mind.

“We’re sorry for this delay, but we want to make sure we get this right. To be clear, we’re not re-opening our selection process—we simply need more time to decide than we’d anticipated. Stay tuned for an announcement in early 2011,” said Milo Medin.

The lucky community (or communities) that will be selected will see Google come in and install an ultra high-speed broadband, 100 times faster than what most people have access to today.

If you haven’t been following the ultra high-speed fiber network story, here’s the lowdown. In February Google announced that it plans to enter the ISP (Internet Service Provider) business by building an ultra high-speed broadband network. As Google announced, its network would provide speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second, which is about 100 times better than what most Americans have nowadays.

The fiber network experiment, as Google explained, aims to target a few specific topics:
- 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.”

“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,” said Product Manager with Google, Minnie Ingersoll, back in February.


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