How Much Will Google's Fiber Network Cost?

(page 2 of 2)

Mike Day, chief technology officer at ADC Telecommunications, told me this network is going to be a lot more expensive than somewhat similar ones. It would need a really fast switching fabric that in turn would be connected to the Internet backbone at astonishingly fast speeds. This seamlessness is what will bring true speed to the homes on the test network. Think of this as building a smooth Autobahn from the home to the backbone. Day said the network would need to overcome some major design challenges, such as different data center architecture and a different style of servers that don't become a bottleneck and are able to leverage the 1 Gbps speeds.

Is spending this much money—even for Google, which has about $25 billion in cash—a good idea? I think so. Just as car companies spend their research and development dollars on Formula One Racing teams to get a better idea of what new features could be included in their commercial vehicles, a company such as Google needs to explore the outer limits of broadband. (I will explore more on this topic in a different post.)

In addition, "Google has a secondary motivation here, and that is to also push the FCC to accelerate its examination of using TV white spaces for wireless broadband," says Jeff Heyman, broadband and video analyst for Infonetics Research. He points out that if "Google can make this endeavor successful for a number of communities, why couldn't they do so for even more using white spaces? This FTTH initiative, in other words, could be a proving ground for Google as infrastructure provider."

Is that likely? Perhaps not—but as someone who hearts broadband, I hope Google's desire to push the limits brings about the change we so badly need.

Also from the GigaOM network:

Google Buzz and E-mail: Strength or Weakness?

MySpace, R.I.P.

Apple Looks to Corner the Market With 99¢ TV Shows

Work Hacks: How to Run Meetings Google-style

Fred Morse: The Solar King Talks Consolidation, Financing

Provided by GigaOm—

Business Exchange

Track and share business topics across the Web.