Friday, November 30, 2007

Google expected to bid on 700MHz

Wireless IT World has recently published an article which sheds some more light onto the conundrum of Google’s interest in the 700 MHz spectrum.
Link

This paragraph is of interest to me...

“Google has also supported efforts to push Congress to pass net neutrality requirements, which would prohibit broadband providers from blocking or slowing Web content not approved by them. Google's interest in the spectrum came after AT&T and other large broadband providers expressed interest in recent years in getting Web-based businesses to pay more for their customers' use of the broadband networks.”

This whole net neutrality topic stems from the players in the communication industry who see the potential loss of revenue due to VoIP (Voice over IP) and the increase in bandwidth demand as multimedia (i.e. You Tube) become more prevalent.

It is my belief Google may, in part, use the spectrum as a way to circumvent the traditional telecos by offering their own service to the Internet. This would practically guarantee neutrality on the Internet – providing you went with Google to get access to the net.

In the past, Google has been reported to buy unused fiber optic networks. All that would be missing from the GoogleNet would be access points; which is still something missing from the big picture. Will they team up with some existing provider (i.e. Sprint), or will Google start setting up their own towers? The 700MHz would require fewer towers and cover larger areas than traditional cell phone service.

Add to this, all of the talk about the Google Phone (gPhone) and it makes for some interesting possibilities.