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Google is more interested in solving the bandwidth cap problem. They want to deploy high speed municipal wifi to solve this. Unlike Republic, they are not look

by ohsnap 12y ago

Google is more interested in solving the bandwidth cap problem. They want to deploy high speed municipal wifi to solve this. Unlike Republic, they are not looking to cut your monthly bill - Google wants people to consume more data, not less. Republic is more focused on cutting costs by providing a more efficient (but basic) service... which is a very different business.

wtallis 12y ago
There's still a ton of overlap in using WiFi to work around the limitations of cellular. Google won't want their customers using large amounts of cellular data any more than Republic does, because they'll have to face the same cost structure as a MVNO. Google's got a lot more money to throw around than Republic, but they're not going to spend it on subsidizing cellular data costs. They're going to use it on making WiFi offloading more broadly available, and thus they'll be every bit as focused on offloading as Republic. (And Google's in a great position to make sure that the WiFi that gets deployed actually works well enough to reliably support VoIP, which has been the biggest problem Republic faces.)
- ohsnap 12y ago
  Yup huge technology overlap in offloading but I don't think Google really needs Republic's help there. But your right both are focused on making offloading as reliable and seamless as possible. Personally I think an independent Republic is the most interesting business because they have a lot of room to really drive prices down, something they couldn't do within Google.
diafygi 12y ago
What about pCells[1]? DIDO seemed like a really clever way around bandwidth sharing[2], but I haven't heard anything about it since mid-2014. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGAnDQEQJ_s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGAnDQEQJ_s [2]: http://www.rearden.com/DIDO/DIDO_White_Paper_110727.pdf http://www.rearden.com/DIDO/DIDO_White_Paper_110727.pdf

by ohsnap 12y ago

wtallis 12y ago

There's still a ton of overlap in using WiFi to work around the limitations of cellular. Google won't want their customers using large amounts of cellular data any more than Republic does, because they'll have to face the same cost structure as a MVNO. Google's got a lot more money to throw around than Republic, but they're not going to spend it on subsidizing cellular data costs. They're going to use it on making WiFi offloading more broadly available, and thus they'll be every bit as focused on offloading as Republic. (And Google's in a great position to make sure that the WiFi that gets deployed actually works well enough to reliably support VoIP, which has been the biggest problem Republic faces.)

ohsnap 12y ago
Yup huge technology overlap in offloading but I don't think Google really needs Republic's help there. But your right both are focused on making offloading as reliable and seamless as possible. Personally I think an independent Republic is the most interesting business because they have a lot of room to really drive prices down, something they couldn't do within Google.

diafygi 12y ago

What about pCells[1]? DIDO seemed like a really clever way around bandwidth sharing[2], but I haven't heard anything about it since mid-2014. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGAnDQEQJ_s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGAnDQEQJ_s [2]: http://www.rearden.com/DIDO/DIDO_White_Paper_110727.pdf http://www.rearden.com/DIDO/DIDO_White_Paper_110727.pdf