Whoa cowboy, yet another massive industry Google will try to reinvent? Apparently.
From a blog post announcing the initiative:
We’re planning to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States. We’ll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.
Here’s the Very Cool part:
Openness and choice: We’ll operate an “open access” network, giving users the choice of multiple service providers. And consistent with our past advocacy, we’ll manage our network in an open, non-discriminatory and transparent way.
And if those trials work out? Comcast is not going to like it. Sounds like Google will OEM the network to third parties to market to consumers. IE – compete with your local cableco. Innaresting.