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I think Google would be better off partnering with existing service providers for this project. It's a hugely complex process to start from scratch. Getting the
by jsz0 17y ago
I think Google would be better off partnering with existing service providers for this project. It's a hugely complex process to start from scratch. Getting the pole rights alone to build infrastructure is going to take them years. In some area's within the span of a mile you might pass poles owned by half a dozen different entities. Most of them owned by incumbent Internet service providers who will tell you the pole is already at capacity and if you want to put up your fiber they need to replace 50 poles to cover one new street of infrastructure build out. In many places they'll have to dig trenches for new construction. In cold areas that means you lose at least 5 months a year of actual work time or you spend a fortune digging into the frozen ground. They're going to need to hire a small army of contractors to build plant and splice fiber or make the investment in man power, bucket trucks, gear, etc to do it in house. They're going to need warehouses and office space all over the country. And of course they'll need customer & technical support staff. I'd be shocked if Google makes any real progress on this outside of extremely limited deployments. The whole system is setup to make it very hard for any outside force to compete with incumbents.
- clistctrl 17y agoThis is very true, but google also has a vast amount of resources, and some of the smartest and technologically literate people in the world working for them. Its entirely possible that they have an army of robots or some game changing technology to do things differently from the norm.
- wmf 17y agoSince it's a pilot project, Google can simply choose to install it in places that are easy to install. Of course, the results won't be representative.
- jonknee 17y agoConsidering they are only looking for a couple communities at most (and maybe just one), it's pretty logical that they will choose one where it's relatively easy. Temperate climate, clear rights of way, city government assisting, etc. They're not going to choose Manhattan. I watched Verizon install FiOS around my city several years back and it was all quite efficient. Contracting firms dug the ditches, another firm put the cables down while the digging crew came back behind and filled in the trench. It was amazing how quickly they could hook up a neighborhood.
- protomyth 17y agoI would think it would be good for Google to partner with the local non-telco / non-cable provider of utilities. The local electric or gas company (who is used to commodity business models) would be a ideal. They already have access to the houses and would make a good "franchise" partner. They probably wouldn't mind another "dumb pipe".
- ippisl 17y agoIn israel the electric company is working on being an ISP. they use some kind of robot that lays fiber on top of electric cables.