Google’s Ultrahigh-speed Headache

A few weeks ago, I mentioned how Google was working to develop ultrahigh-speed Internet access in a few test communities, which they would then hopefully expand to the whole country. It was quite the pitch, and with the proposed 1-gigabit-per-second connection, it seemed attainable. But according to the Wall Street Journal, this huge undertaking has been hitting a few speedbumps.

While Google has had no trouble finding communities to be their 1-gigabit guinea pigs, the logistics involved to pull off the construction are a bit overwhelming. New fiber optic cables have to be put in place, which means roads will have to be torn up. It’s a massive infrastructure that is apparently proving to be more of an obstacle than Google originally had hoped.

And even if Google does get the infrastructure up and running, there is still the issue of what the super fast connection will actually be able to accomplish. There simply aren’t a lot of online services that require 1-Gb speed. And unfortuntely, it wouldn’t necessarily make all existing services faster, because online traffic can only travel as fast as the slowest link its path.

This means that until 1-Gb connection speed becomes more widespread, streaming a YouTube video on 1-Gb won’t be much faster than it would be on a 200-Mb connection.

But Google’s ultrahigh-speed ship hasn’t sunk quite yet. That’s because Cisco recently announced they are testing Cisco CRS-3, which is a routing system they say is so fast it will allow people to download every movie ever made in 5 minutes.

This is actually good news for Google, because it means more focus and attention will be placed on ultrahigh-speed Internet. This should increase the demand for connection speeds that fast, which in turn means more initiative will be taken to make ultra-high speed Internet a reality. However, until that happens, Google’s Internet innovation may continue to just be an ultrahigh-speed headache.

Google Continues to Energize 2010

By Steve Retka:

Google has refused to allow itself to be pushed out of the limelight in 2010. The media storm started in January when Google surprisingly aired a commercial during the Superbowl, and gained even more steam with the successful launch of its social network Google Buzz on February 9th. The very next day Google raised eyebrows with its announcement that it would offer ultrahigh-speed Internet access in some communities to test the possibilities of faster broadband networks in the United States.

And it appears as though the storm is about to surge again, because on February 18th, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has given Google subsidiary Google Energy the thumbs-up to buy and sell electricity in bulk like any other utility company.

Now before we hail Google as the next great empire of our generation, we need to take a step back and really examine the repercussions of this latest weapon in Google’s already potent arsenal.

Does this mean that Google is going to be our new power company? Not necessarily. Many large corporations have done the same thing Google is doing, with the intention being on better regulating their own energy consumption. Google has many data centers, and the immediate impact will focus solely on better controlling them.

So while the FERC decision isn’t too shocking by itself, the real news is based on what Google Representative Niki Fenwick said about Google Energy in January in regards to its pursuit of energy access:

“We don’t have any concrete plans. We want the ability to buy and sell electricity in case it becomes part of our portfolio.”

This is what makes this story important. No, Google isn’t going to be controlling our power anytime soon...however, Google hasn’t outright denied that it’s a possiblity. It will be very interesting to see where the search engine giant goes from here, and to see if 2010 continues to be a big year for Google.