My friend Carlos shared a post with me today from the Google blog. The basic premise is that Google is going to experiment with setting up fiber optic internet service in certain cities across the country. They plan to offer 1 Gigabit speeds for roughly 500,000 people.
However, if you read between the lines, what I think might be going on is Google is taking a stab at the other ISPs on the net neutrality front. For those who haven’t heard of the net neutrality issue: Some of your typical internet providers may one day limit internet access to those who pay top dollar, making the internet regulated in a way where only those who can afford it will get the best service. This could have serious ramifications for scrappy start up websites and lower funded, open source projects. Net neutrality is what allowed websites like Google to come about.
To me it seems like Google is taking on the challenge of becoming an ISP to beat the typical, monopolist ISPs at their own game. Not only are they going to provide an “open” infrastructure, they are planning on providing a infrastructure that is vastly superior to what any of the other competitors can release to the public. If they successfully lay down a powerful fiber optic network in a short amount of time, the other ISPs will lose their ground on the net neutrality issue. So Hooray for Google! I have always disliked my ISPs. They play in a non-competitive world and give poor service.
The key is the “open” network. Google wants to build an open network so they can share their network with other ISPs. This will kill the monopolistic system of the current internet provider model. Thus, removing the power of these companies and their ability to lobby for non-net-neutrality.
