Google never stops surprising me.After successful launch of Google buzz, Google is now planning to become an Internet Service provider and it’s gonna raise web speed limit to 1Gbps which is more than 100 times faster than what Americans are enjoying right now.
The company said it will begin in certain test markets to offer broadband service capable of delivering bits and bytes at speeds 100 times what most Americans now receive from their cable and telephone companies.
The announcement is the latest in a recent series of moves by Google that appear calculated to help the Internet juggernaut leapfrog the existing technology establishment to position itself for the future.
As computer users spend more time communicating on social networks such as Facebook, Google this week unveiled Google Buzz, which aspires to knit together a variety of social networks into one grand collective.
Last month, Google released its first smartphone in a bid to challenge the way the wireless industry sells handsets. The move came as the company experiments with Google Voice, a service that allows people to choose a new phone number and relay calls to their other numbers.
Google grabbed global headlines with its declaration that it might spurn China over Internet freedom concerns, and it has been a leading proponent in Washington for “net neutrality” rules that would prevent online access providers from discriminating against those who would create certain content for the Web.
In each initiative, Google has said is trying not to upend potential rivals but to encourage innovation in hopes of expanding use of the Internet. It held to that claim in describing its new broadband initiative on Wednesday.
“We are not getting into the [Internet service provider] or broadband business,” said Rick Whitt, telecom and media counsel at Google. “This is a business-model nudge and an innovation nudge.”
The specifics of Google’s grand plan of providing the fastest Internet connection to American homes include:
- Next generation apps: We want to see what developers and users can do with ultra high-speeds, whether it’s creating new bandwidth-intensive “killer apps” and services, or other uses we can’t yet imagine.
- New deployment techniques: We’ll test new ways to build fiber networks, and to help inform and support deployments elsewhere, we’ll share key lessons learned with the world.
- 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.
