Blandin on Broadband

Google is putting their money where their mouth is and they’re looking for partners to help pilot some fiber optics networks. Here’s the word:

Google is planning to launch an experiment that we hope will make Internet access better and faster for everyone. We plan to test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Our networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We’ll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.

From now until March 26th, we’re asking interested municipalities to provide us with information about their communities through a Request for information (RFI), which we’ll use to determine where to build our network.

According to Tech Crunch…

Google says it is doing this on an trial basis to promote new killer apps that will take advantage of the faster speeds, experiment with better ways to deploy fiber to the home, and create pressure for more open access to broadband in general.

I’m excited at any effort to build bigger broadband, but in some ways I see similarities between Google building networks and Comcast and NBC building a partnership. It’s not exactly the same but I see some similarities. On the other hand, I am eager to learn about how they will work with the participating local governments. Google has a history of new approaches and public-private partnerships could use some new thinking.