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American consumers understand the exponential increase in broadband speed requirements, and want to stay ahead of the curve.
Broadband Speed: How Much Do You Need? Speeds Have Become As Important as Physical Access
If there is any one entity responsible for raising the broadband bar to gigabit standards, it would be Google. While cable companies would blame Google for their "pie-in-the-sky" unreasonable speed standard, most savvy consumers understand the climbing trend over the last few years. As many broadband providers know very well, as networks are scaled to provide speeds of 100 Mbps or higher, climbing to gigabit speeds is just a matter of incremental costs. This has caused many companies to increase speeds by investing and upgrading networks even before customers are using the service. In other words, capability to provide gigabit speeds has been a requirement for consumers, even if those same consumers do not subscribe to the service once it is available.
Google Gigabit Community Debut in Kansas City: Google's Promise Becomes Reality for Two American Cities
Google isn't your typical broadband service provider, and although the company undoubtedly would like to earn revenues to offset deployment costs, many analysts have speculated that that wasn't their primary goal. The huge Internet company's primary business is generated by use of the Internet, and faster speeds mean more extensive use and pent up demand. By building high-speed gigabit networks, the company is achieving two goals - stimulating innovation and research and development efforts in the cities where deployments are taking place, and more importantly nudging traditional broadband providers to deploy similar networks.
Google's latest venture takes the company from wireline access to wireless access. Sidewalk Labs is a Google-owned innovation start-up company who is partnering with NYC to provide high-speed wireless broadband access throughout the City. LinkNYC will transform obsolete telephone booths across the city into wireless hotspots and technology hubs for cellphone charging, tourist information, and local marketing of services. The business model is based on offering free Internet access and cellphone charging, with ad-generated revenue driving profits. NYC claims to be receiving $500M in ad revenues over the course of the project.
As Google Fiber Networks Expand, Raleigh Plans Their Own Network: North Carolina city announces plan to lay 125 miles of fiber
Sidewalk is targeting issues of modern cities such as pollution, energy, traffic, communications, and cost of living. "It was formed to look at the confluence of the physical and digital world to solve urban problems," Chief Executive Officer Dan Doctoroff said. He wouldn't say which cities he has in mind for the Wi-Fi push but predicted the technology will go global. "There are certainly places that it's immediately replicable," he said, adding that the idea is to "use technology not to make cities all the same, but enhance what makes them unique and individual."
LinkNYC will be a model for other cities to follow as the company rolls out its deployment strategy.
Copper DSL for Longterm Broadband Strategy: Deutsche Telekom: DSL Will Play Major Role in Broadband Access
Companies like AT&T and Verizon haven't been shy about saying their respective companies would love to deploy similar networks - if municipalities would offer concessions like those offered to Google. In October 2013, Google Access Project Leader Kevin Lo offered specific advice to municipalities who are courting gigabit broadband providers. Speaking at the Broadband World Forum in Amsterdam, Lo listed three measures that municipalities could take to make gigabit broadband deployments more attractive to potential providers:
• Access to power poles, ducts, and cable conduits: Once Google has figured out what it needs to use, "We agree to a fair-market price so we can get up to that space," Lo said.
• Provide good maps - not just the location of power poles and conduit channels, but also water mains and gas lines that can complicate installations. "We've been surprised how big a problem this is for a lot of our cities," Lo said.
• Expedite construction permits: "When we build, we are submitting literally tens of thousands of permits. We work closely with the city to expedite that process. These are the things that have been consuming our teams' time," Lo said.
Is Copper DSL for Broadband Dead? American Broadband Providers Reevaluate Use of Copper DSL
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