Foray into the Fiber Hood
Google wants to develop with gigabit network connections a new business. Experts cast doubt on whether "Google Fiber" can expect.
So far, Google is known for online services of all kinds. But now, the group ventured on a new business: Network services. In Kansas City for the first time Google has installed fiber optic lines with the stunning data transfer rate of one gigabit per second - 100 times larger than the average bandwidth in the U.S. of 11.6 megabits per second.
So Californians could also have an unorthodox way to get parts of the United States newly connected to the grid. More, your network ambitions could a new phase of private broadband installations herald.
Amazingly, even in the birthplace of the Internet network connection a patchwork of often quite slow lines on the last mile. Although some cities have extremely fast network access, the U.S. rank internationally in terms of average bandwidth on 24th place
For its network plans Google has divided the city of Kansas City initially in 202 districts, called Fiber Hoods. Prospective residents were there to pre-register for a fee of ten dollars for the new lines. In Fiber Hoods, in which - according to population density - had five to 25 percent registered for the Service, Google began with the installation of the fiber connections in the streets. Who afterwards umentschied and the service but did not want to take advantage of got that previously paid ten U.S. dollars but not back.
Last week, Google has now launched its gigabit network. Compared to the prices of other, slower provider is the super fast service from Google a good deal: $ 70, the full fee, anyone who subscribes also TV data, pays $ 120. This is provided by Google a box with two terabytes of storage to record television programs, as well as a Nexus 7 Android Tablet PC as a remote control. Who wants to be content with five megabit per second pay a one time fee of $ 300 to the Data Group.
There have been some complaints about waiting lists, says Jenna Wandres, spokeswoman for Google Fiber, but otherwise everything seems to be working. "We are, as many people in Hanover Heights now have fiber optic connections." Hanover Heights is the neighborhood of Kansas City, who last week became the first Fiber Hood grid.
Experts are skeptical whether the service for Google really expects. Installation costs may be estimated from 850 to 1250 dollars per customer. Since at least the $ 300 fee for the basic service are at a loss.
Google will call no figures on costs and customers. Wandres assured, however, the strategy is economically coherent. "This is not a beta, not an experiment," she says. "We are concentrating on efficiency. With lower costs. "
Google's Super connection could also stimulate business in Kansas City. The program "Homes for Hackers" Homeowners trying with Google Fiber connection to motivate developers ask for three months free rooms. Also could Fiber Hood concept attract new start-ups.
Russell Neuman, media researcher at the University of Michigan, Google Fiber sees as a true innovation in the provider market. Whether it will revolutionize the was, at the moment still open. To transfer "cables, does not belong to the traditional business of Google. But maybe Google has something up its sleeve, which Verizon has no idea, "says Neuman.
Large network service providers such as AT & T and Verizon taking a different route than the data group from California. They focus on increasing in existing areas with DSL connections, the data rate, and thus have provided in recent years, millions of U.S. households with broadband Internet.
Verizon has about the past eight years, investing $ 23 billion to expand its fiber network. The service called FiOS now has 18 million customers. The charge in a two-year contract $ 99 a month for bandwidths of up to 300 megabits per second for downloading and 65 megabits per second upload.
"Our business model does not intend to expand into areas where we have no network connections," said Verizon spokesman Bill Kula. Google Fiber he calls a "niche community" - approach. We must wait and see how this business model is sustainable. "The question is whether there is for such bandwidth on demand," adds Kula.
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