Cute little crate the City of Greensboro is sending to Google, eh? Looks to me like the marketing handiwork of the usual suspects. The fact that assistant city manager Denise Turner is in charge of the application tells me this process is simply to give her something to do, because nobody really knows what she does.
Despite appearances, I’m honestly not trying to be Mr. Negative about our local government jumping through hoops for Google. I talked to a geek buddy of mine yesterday and he pointed out that —even if the city offers up incentives —– high-speed Internet is something everyone would purchase, as opposed to —for example —- a computer plant that would employ a small percentage of the population and would never pay enough property tax to cover government spending. Point taken.
Still, this interesting Computer World article questions Google’s motivations for getting into the broadband business.
Google Inc.’s plan to provide fiber-to-the-home connections at 1Gbit/sec. speeds — that’s 100 times what most American broadband users now get — will have consumers salivating, but some experts say it’s unlikely that Google will ever become a network carrier that regularly installs and maintains fiber connections.
Instead, the announcement appears to be Google’s way of prodding federal regulators and broadband service providers like AT&T, Verizon and cable companies to do more to expand their broadband push.
The goal Google ultimately has in mind, some believe, is to make sure that networks with fat pipes are available soon, so consumers and businesses can use more bandwidth-intensive Google applications.
