February 11, 2010

Google Inc. directed its disruptive technology at yet another industry on Wednesday, announcing plans to build broadband networks as much as 100 times faster than most cable and DSL services.

The Mountain View Internet giant said the one-gigabit-per-second, fiber-to-the-home connections, which it plans to test in a few locations, will offer improved access to the Internet and greater choice in providers.

The zippy network also promises to enable far more data-intensive applications online, in the same way the move from dial-up to broadband invited wider use of video and music.

"It will open up all sorts of new possibilities when you have speeds that are 100 times faster," said Minnie Ingersoll, product manager with Google's alternative access team.

The experiment clearly strikes at the heart of Internet service providers like Comcast Corp. and AT&T Inc., but analysts believe it's less of an effort to compete with the industry directly than to goad it into action. There is widespread frustration among customers and Internet companies that the sector has grown complacent with quality and speed, even as the average service in the United States lags behind other nations and new applications strain existing networks.

"They're not saying we want to be an (Internet service provider)," said Greg Sterling, founding principal of Sterling Market Intelligence. "Their primary goal is really to expand broadband and to make it faster." As if to emphasize this point, Google said it will sell access to customers directly "at a competitive price" and team with telecommunications companies that want to package services with its fiber network.

It is just one of many areas where Google has campaigned to create fast, cheap and ubiquitous Internet access. It is lobbying to use vacant space on the television spectrum for broadband, has worked to ensure open access for devices over part of the wireless spectrum, and offered to blanket San Francisco with free wireless access. "This is very consistent with a number of the Internet access projects that we've done in the past," Ingersoll said.

Source:-http://www.sfgate.com