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> I really wish Google would put more pressure on the US ISP market You want to know what Google's biggest issue is getting fiber out? Quote: In California i

> I really wish Google would put more pressure on the US ISP market You want to know what Google's biggest issue is getting fiber out? Quote: In California in particular, environmental regulations prevent companies from improving the telecommunications infrastructure, Medin said. “Google is a big believer in protecting the environment for future generations, but certain types of state and local environmental rules make investment very difficult,” he explained. ” Laws like the California Environmental Quality Act can make it prohibitively expensive for companies to invest in new projects, such as our fiber project, within California. “Many fine California city proposals for the Google Fiber project were ultimately passed over in part because of the regulatory complexity here brought about by CEQA and other rules. Other states have equivalent processes in place to protect the environment without causing such harm to business processes, and therefore create incentives for new services to be deployed there instead.” http://www.forbes.com/sites/eliseackerman/2012/08/04/how-kansas-won-the-google-fiber-jackpot-and-why-california-never-will/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/eliseackerman/2012/08/04/how-kan...

seehafer 13y ago
Lots of things are difficult to accomplish in meat space when you have a one party state governed by career politicians.
georgemcbay 13y ago
I don't doubt that there are overbearing regulations in place in California (and I say this as someone who is pretty liberal and generally in favor of government regulation where it makes sense, but recognizes that they can go overboard), but I don't buy that Google's primary limitation is regulation, because there are many cities outside of California that would bend over backward for Google Fiber and yet they are still rolling it out at what I would consider a snail's pace.
- Domenic_S 13y ago
  The article I linked discusses some of that, how navigating the politics of even cities that welcome Google with open arms is troublesome.
specialp 13y ago
Google is never going to expand nationwide that is not their intent. Right now they cherry picked areas that are not nuts with regulation and have low cost of buildout while having high enough density for a good subscriber base. If the whole country was like that it would be easy. Google is doing this to get people to complain to their ISP that they are not getting as good a deal as people on Google Fiber. They get into businesses to disrupt things that could potentially hurt their core business but they do not REALLY want to be in that business. A similar thing was when they were going to bid for the 700MHZ frequency auction and managed to get many provisions put in there that were beneficial to them and then did not buy the frequency.
- georgemcbay 13y ago
  "Google is doing this to get people to complain to their ISP that they are not getting as good a deal as people on Google Fiber." That plan only has a chance of working if they increase coverage by a lot to put real pressure on ISPs across many local regions. What does the local duopoly of ISPs where 99.99% of us live care if we know that Google Fiber is much better and cheaper when our only option of getting it is to move to KC, Austin or Provo? They won't give a shit until Google is actually competing in their backyard. FWIW, Google's half-baked plans for the spectrum failed as well, Verizon never did shit to open the upper band of 700MHz up for open access after buying it and after their recent court victory, it is virtually certain they never will.

seehafer 13y ago

Lots of things are difficult to accomplish in meat space when you have a one party state governed by career politicians.

georgemcbay 13y ago

I don't doubt that there are overbearing regulations in place in California (and I say this as someone who is pretty liberal and generally in favor of government regulation where it makes sense, but recognizes that they can go overboard), but I don't buy that Google's primary limitation is regulation, because there are many cities outside of California that would bend over backward for Google Fiber and yet they are still rolling it out at what I would consider a snail's pace.

Domenic_S 13y ago
The article I linked discusses some of that, how navigating the politics of even cities that welcome Google with open arms is troublesome.

specialp 13y ago

Google is never going to expand nationwide that is not their intent. Right now they cherry picked areas that are not nuts with regulation and have low cost of buildout while having high enough density for a good subscriber base. If the whole country was like that it would be easy. Google is doing this to get people to complain to their ISP that they are not getting as good a deal as people on Google Fiber. They get into businesses to disrupt things that could potentially hurt their core business but they do not REALLY want to be in that business. A similar thing was when they were going to bid for the 700MHZ frequency auction and managed to get many provisions put in there that were beneficial to them and then did not buy the frequency.

georgemcbay 13y ago
"Google is doing this to get people to complain to their ISP that they are not getting as good a deal as people on Google Fiber." That plan only has a chance of working if they increase coverage by a lot to put real pressure on ISPs across many local regions. What does the local duopoly of ISPs where 99.99% of us live care if we know that Google Fiber is much better and cheaper when our only option of getting it is to move to KC, Austin or Provo? They won't give a shit until Google is actually competing in their backyard. FWIW, Google's half-baked plans for the spectrum failed as well, Verizon never did shit to open the upper band of 700MHz up for open access after buying it and after their recent court victory, it is virtually certain they never will.