Google to offer 'ultra high-speed' broadband in US

[Computer Hope Admin]

Google is spreading its wings in yet another direction - this time as a network provider, offering super-fast broadband to thousands of US homes.

It plans to build a fibre-optic network offering speeds of up to 1Gbps (gigabit per second) to up to 500,000 homes.

Link

[Ironman]

looks interesting, hopefully they offer something in Chicago, only options here are Comcast Broadband and AT&T fiber optic.

[Broni]

I wonder how much for the service....

[Wefro_froyas]

Thats 128 Megabytes a second  think about it you could download a 800 megabyte movie in about 6 seconds

EDIT: This has to be really expensive I bet...

[Broni]

[Computer Hope Admin]

So part of the reason Google is doing this is to see what developers can develop or think of when that much bandwidth is available. I tried to think of viable ideas and could only come up with three.

1. Streaming HD video
2. Software / Game distribution (would be really good for pay per usage type systems)
3. High quality video teleconferencing.

Anyone got any other good thoughts on what you'd do with this much bandwidth.

[Salmon Trout]

Broni: Sorry man but yeah, yeah yeah. Enough with the preaching already. And the MPAA poster. We know that "downloading movies is illegal"  Except when it isn't. The whole point of gigabit download speeds is that you don't need to travel to a store, buy the physical media and bring it home any more. That's what I get from the "think about it you could download a 800 megabyte movie in about 6 seconds" comment. For many people the computer is the hub of the digital home.

In fact I get quite a lot of use out a 20 Mbit connection. I watch streamed TV programs from around the world (I am learning Spanish) and legally download them too. The ability to do more multiple things at once and at higher resolution would be really good. Plus all those Linux distros from binary newsgroups of course!                                   

[cintari]

For Broni


The internet isn't doing anything new. It's just doing it better.

[rthompson80819]

I'm not going to hold my breath on Google becoming a direct internet provider.  They have a ton of money but when they find out the costs and obstacles of running fiber to 50,000 homes (much less 500,000 homes) they will go to plan B, which will be to partner with an established provider.

[jaydeee]

I actually like google...
guess gonna support them on their ventures hehehe...

[rthompson80819]

I like Google too.  I'm just being realistic.

Many business that are successful in one field fail miserably when they try to get into other unrelated businesses.

[BC_Programmer]

I like Google too.  I'm just being realistic.

Many business that are successful in one field fail miserably when they try to get into other unrelated businesses.

Yeah, like, when Intel diverged from making Memory chips, to making Processors. Oh wait... that was a success story.

or how about when Microsoft decided to compete in the console video game market, man, that was such a.... success story.

Google has a browser, so offering ISP services is not wholly unrelated. Netscape did it.

Therefore you are not being "realistic" but rather "pessimistic", these two terms are often confused.

[rthompson80819]

Google is in the software business.  Some ISP's are in the software business, like AOL or NetZero, and some are also invested in physical plant like Comcast and Verizon.

What Google is talking about is building physical plant which is a whole different business than software.  They are going to need installers to run fiber into homes, technicians to fix problems, customer service reps to answer phone calls from customers having problems, etc.

They are wanting to become another Comcast and that's a big departure for Google.

BTW, I could give you a much longer list of companies that have failed when they got away from their core business.

[patio]

Most providers use the existing backbone to provide service...
I highly doubt google's aim is to go out there rebuilding the infrastructure just to jump into the ISP business...

[JJ 3000]

It plans to build a fibre-optic network offering speeds of up to 1Gbps (gigabit per second) to up to 500,000 homes.

Doesn't this mean that they will have to run new physical cable?