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From what I understood, Fiber wasn't a long term solution for Google. I think they anticipated that they could kick a American infrastructural movement into gea

From what I understood, Fiber wasn't a long term solution for Google. I think they anticipated that they could kick a American infrastructural movement into gear if they gave the other ISPs a real reason to compete. I don't know if this is Google's response to those ISPs taking a different approach than they wanted, or if this is symptomatic of the company changing overall. Judging by the other ISP's marketing campaigns, competition doesn't seem to be the real message. That's a whole other can of worms. I would venture to guess that given older company's paths, that it's the latter, and the problem is that they don't want to take big gambles like that; play a more conservative game. It could also be a number of other factors. Maybe Google thinks Trump is looking to make good on infrastructural promises. It would be prudent of Google to capitalize on that momentum rather than spend their own resources.

jboggan 10y ago
I doubt this is Trump-related, the major decisions about the change of direction were made in October.
agildehaus 10y ago
Also possible Google and SpaceX are teaming up. That constellation isn't going to manage or sell itself and Google put $1 billion into SpaceX two years ago.
- iainmerrick 10y ago
  What does that have to do with Google Fiber?
  - martindevans 10y ago
    Google fiber and the spacex internet constellation are both ISPs
  - Retric 10y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_satellite_constellation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_satellite_constellation The idea is by sticking with LEO satellites vs geosynchronous the ping stays reasonable (~700 miles ~= 9ms vs ~22,236 miles ~= 279ms ping ping) and the bandwidth is much higher than traditional satellite internet. Further you don't need any effort aiming a dish thus vastly reducing installation issues.
    - CountSessine 10y ago
      Tech companies and entrepreneurs have been pitching LEO satellites for internet delivery for a very long time. Even Bill Gates had a kick at this can. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teledesic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teledesic It's interesting to me that our cities and their governance are so awful - with their limited voter participation, poor cost control, class warfare politics, crazy fringe political advocacy, and unreasonable franchise agreements - that going into space is considered easy compared to working with city governments to get fibre in the ground.
      - agildehaus 10y ago
        A satellite constellation like this will actually be more efficient for long distance communication than fiber as hops will be more or less a straight line between a few sats whereas fiber on the ground often takes crazy paths due to terrain and politics. If SpaceX can prove reusability, which is looking likely, putting up a constellation like this will become significantly cheaper. They also can just reuse first stages that their own customers already paid for (their customers pay for the flight, not the stage itself).
        lsjdfkljdfwkwdf 10y ago
        Efficient? Long haul fiber (DWDM) capacity is measures in Tbps....
        Retric 10y ago
        I don't have SpaceX numbers. But, a constellation like this was supposed to provide ~200 Gbytes per month for 5 billion people, which works out to ~3000 terabytes per second or ~5 terabits per second per satellite at a minimum. (More if they are modeling the ocean.) http://www.popsci.com/samsung-wants-launch-thousands-satellites-bring-everyone-earth-internet http://www.popsci.com/samsung-wants-launch-thousands-satelli... ED: Here is the paper. https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1508/1508.02383.pdf https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1508/1508.02383.pdf
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- indolering 10y ago
  AFAIK there is a maximum number of phased arrays in an area, something like one array per 5-cit blocks. So this is great if you are in a rural community but it isn't a substitute for high-speed fiber.
cookiecaper 10y ago
Google may well consider Fiber's mission fulfilled. Gigabit connections are proliferating across the country from every major telco. Google's intent was to get internet speeds kickstarted, and they've successfully done just that. While I can't get gigabit where I currently live for unspecified reasons (despite having a true FTTH connection), there are nearby areas that can, and almost every ISP has some type of gigabit pilot. That never would've happened without Google Fiber. I think the _real_ answer to our telco issue is to go wireless. It's just so expensive to run real cables in the ground everywhere and the legal situation around who owns those cables, when they have to share with "competitors" (who are ultimately still dependent on the line owner to fill service requests, which means those competitors will always only be able to receive second-tier service), etc., is murky and can depend on the jurisdiction. Wireless is way cheaper and competition in that field is plausible. While it would be ideal if we could get a reasonable public infrastructure to lease for wireless connections, it wouldn't be mandatory for a semi-competitive environment.

jboggan 10y ago

I doubt this is Trump-related, the major decisions about the change of direction were made in October.

agildehaus 10y ago

Also possible Google and SpaceX are teaming up. That constellation isn't going to manage or sell itself and Google put $1 billion into SpaceX two years ago.

iainmerrick 10y ago
What does that have to do with Google Fiber?
- martindevans 10y ago
  Google fiber and the spacex internet constellation are both ISPs
- Retric 10y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_satellite_constellation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_satellite_constellation The idea is by sticking with LEO satellites vs geosynchronous the ping stays reasonable (~700 miles ~= 9ms vs ~22,236 miles ~= 279ms ping ping) and the bandwidth is much higher than traditional satellite internet. Further you don't need any effort aiming a dish thus vastly reducing installation issues.
  - CountSessine 10y ago
    Tech companies and entrepreneurs have been pitching LEO satellites for internet delivery for a very long time. Even Bill Gates had a kick at this can. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teledesic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teledesic It's interesting to me that our cities and their governance are so awful - with their limited voter participation, poor cost control, class warfare politics, crazy fringe political advocacy, and unreasonable franchise agreements - that going into space is considered easy compared to working with city governments to get fibre in the ground.
    - agildehaus 10y ago
      A satellite constellation like this will actually be more efficient for long distance communication than fiber as hops will be more or less a straight line between a few sats whereas fiber on the ground often takes crazy paths due to terrain and politics. If SpaceX can prove reusability, which is looking likely, putting up a constellation like this will become significantly cheaper. They also can just reuse first stages that their own customers already paid for (their customers pay for the flight, not the stage itself).
      - lsjdfkljdfwkwdf 10y ago
        Efficient? Long haul fiber (DWDM) capacity is measures in Tbps....
        Retric 10y ago
        I don't have SpaceX numbers. But, a constellation like this was supposed to provide ~200 Gbytes per month for 5 billion people, which works out to ~3000 terabytes per second or ~5 terabits per second per satellite at a minimum. (More if they are modeling the ocean.) http://www.popsci.com/samsung-wants-launch-thousands-satellites-bring-everyone-earth-internet http://www.popsci.com/samsung-wants-launch-thousands-satelli... ED: Here is the paper. https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1508/1508.02383.pdf https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1508/1508.02383.pdf
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
indolering 10y ago
AFAIK there is a maximum number of phased arrays in an area, something like one array per 5-cit blocks. So this is great if you are in a rural community but it isn't a substitute for high-speed fiber.

cookiecaper 10y ago

Google may well consider Fiber's mission fulfilled. Gigabit connections are proliferating across the country from every major telco. Google's intent was to get internet speeds kickstarted, and they've successfully done just that. While I can't get gigabit where I currently live for unspecified reasons (despite having a true FTTH connection), there are nearby areas that can, and almost every ISP has some type of gigabit pilot. That never would've happened without Google Fiber. I think the _real_ answer to our telco issue is to go wireless. It's just so expensive to run real cables in the ground everywhere and the legal situation around who owns those cables, when they have to share with "competitors" (who are ultimately still dependent on the line owner to fill service requests, which means those competitors will always only be able to receive second-tier service), etc., is murky and can depend on the jurisdiction. Wireless is way cheaper and competition in that field is plausible. While it would be ideal if we could get a reasonable public infrastructure to lease for wireless connections, it wouldn't be mandatory for a semi-competitive environment.