In 2006 a Google spokesman, who declined to be identified, said, “Google has no current plans to be an internet service provider outside of our pilot Wi-Fi projects in Mountain View and San Francisco. Our IPv6 allocation simply reflects planning for the day in the future when the services we currently provide via IPv4 will need to be accessible via IPv6.” In the same year an Internet news portal had also reported, “Several sources have reported over the last year that Google has been quietly acquiring inactive or ‘unlit’ optical cable — otherwise known as dark fiber — a key ingredient used to build data networks.”
Snapping back to February 2010, Google announces that as an experimental project they will be investing in fast fiber-optic broadband networks, putting to use miles of dark fiber -- the underground cable left unused since the Internet bubble.
This initiative will bring Internet speeds which will be 100 times faster than what users have experienced so far; that is, a one-gigabit-per-second fiber-to-the-home connection. The company said it plans to provide competitively-priced services to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.
The company has begun a “request-for-information” campaign that will allow people of various communities to request for this experiment to be conducted in their region.
"Our long-term vision is to see a better, faster Internet," said Minnie Ingersoll, product manager of Google's high-speed broadband initiative. "When everyone had dial up, we couldn't imagine what broadband speeds would be like. By increasing speeds by 100 times faster than what's offered today, we can create opportunities for services that we won't even be able to envision now."
This move has its target set on other ISPs to show them and the world that next-generation broadband is not as tough to implement as other ISP’s have claimed it to be. Google, whose experience in running an ISP is limited to a small Wi-Fi service in its hometown - Mountain View California, will be observed closely by all those who could be influenced significantly by this. That includes ISP’s such as Comcast, Verizon and AT&T and government bodies such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Close on the heels of Google's announcement came a statement from the FCC spokesperson, "Big broadband creates big opportunities. This significant trial will provide an American test-bed for the next generation of innovative, high-speed Internet apps, devices, and services. The FCC’s National Broadband Plan will build upon such private-sector initiatives and will include recommendations for facilitating and accelerating greater investment in broadband, creating jobs and increasing America’s global competitiveness.”
Of course, the new feature will also be an added revenue source for Goole since it intends to operate it as an open access network by renting their networks out to other ISPs. The FCC currently exempts incumbent telecom operators from leasing their lines to other providers. But the FCC continues to get requests from providers to fully enforce “unbundling” with regards to fiber rollouts, as it does for fixed lines. “Unbundling” would allow service providers to use the existing last-mile network of an incumbent operator.
But you cannot help but look at the small print in this particular initiative – Cloud Computing.
Google Building Broadband to Fuel Cloud Ambitions?
One cannot help but notice the close links between Google’s broadband plan and their cloud computing initiatives. To get more users to adopt Chrome OS as their primary operating system and actively use its cloud-based applications, Google needs to ensure users do not see any performance drops due to a slow internet connection.
The company's official statement begins with the lines, "...streaming three-dimensional medical imaging over the web and discussing a unique condition with a specialist in New York. Or downloading a high-definition, full-length feature film in less than five minutes. Or collaborating with classmates around the world while watching live 3-D video of a university lecture.
With ultra-fast fiber-optic broadband Internet connections, the possibilities of services through applications are almost limitless compared to what is available today. Such applications will be the backbone of the Chrome OS.
Google does not necessarily have to go ahead with a highly capital-intensive network rollout and subsequent maintenance, a completely alien line of business compared to its core search advertising business. All it needs to do to is to ensure it createas the right environment by having telecom regulators adapt their services to suit Google's needs. For proof of the same, think back in time to the whole debate around open mobile ecosystems and Google’s ‘bids’ for wireless spectrum. All the more fuel t the idea that Google's new announcement seems to be the first step in the cloud direction.