Google broadband networks announced to shape the regulatory process?

Google’s announced plans to build 1 Gigabyte broadband networks seem to play the same role as Google‘s threats of yesteryear to bid for WiMax frequencies. The FCC is planning to propose a new national broadband plan, which would make accessible to most Americans very high speed networks. According to NTIA, about 35% of American households do not use broadband and 30% do not use the Internet at home at all. Google’s announcement is meant to raise the bar for the established players (Verizon, AT&T, Comcast). Google expects the Pavlovian response that usually goes with any major business initiative. Not to be shamed or left in the dust by the next big thing, some major players (Verizon, AT&T, etc) might feel compelled to outbid Google. This would benefit Google, in the end, because once stopped, the Verizons of the world will not stop until they will deliver what they have promised. And more broadband in American households will probably make Web 2.0 broadband hungry platforms, like YouTube more like a television network, which will attract advertisers and paying consumers. “Ka-ching” the cash registers will go at the Googleplex!

Multichannel news summarizes the situation:

Google didn’t say when it would initiate the project or how much it intended to spend, but analysts estimated the cost of a FTTH buildout to be at least $1,500 per subscriber and potentially far greater.Google’s stated aim is to push the Federal Communications Commission to require higher speeds and open networks as part of the agency’s broadband plan, due to Congress on March 17.“We’ve urged the FCC to look at new and creative ways to get there in its National Broadband Plan, and today we’re announcing an experiment of our own,” read a post on Google’s corporate blog that was attributed to company product managers Minnie Ingersoll and James Kelly.It’s unclear whether the gambit will have the desired effect of influencing the government’s broadband initiatives and establishing network-neutrality laws.

via Behind Google’s Broadband Strategy – 2010-02-13 05:00:00 | Multichannel News.

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