Google's proposal, announced yesterday in a blog posting, is to build fiber-optic networks for as many as 500,000 people [sic] with connections of 1 gigabit per second. That's 20 times the speed of the fastest residential connections from AT&T Inc. [PSTN], Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. [etc], and more than 1,000 times faster than the cheapest connections....

representing total residential fixed copper and fiber line installed's oh wild guess 120M? and uh 225M cell subscribers...

By building its own network, Google would be going around AT&T, Verizon and Comcast to provide Internet access directly to homes, giving it control over how data is delivered to consumers. Google has lobbied for net neutrality [!] legislation to prevent carriers from giving preference to some content providers over others.

... instead of the free $25/mo $45/mo muni wi-fi network GOOG was gonna build outa USDA pork that coulda levered GOOG VoIP "synergies" with Android OS "smart phones" and iDisnDats except it di'n't...

Google, based in Mountain View, California, will first identify cities or counties that want the service and then work with other companies to build the fiber-optic network, said Minnie Ingersoll, a product manager. Google will pay for the deployment of the service, she said.

oops

"We've been working with the FCC to advocate that the U.S. needs to make really bold, concrete moves to accelerate broadband deployment," said Ingersoll. "This is our attempt to put our money where our mouth is."

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Google will probably not invest heavily to build out broadband networks and will instead aim to pressure carriers to bolster their networks, said Clayton Moran, an analyst at Benchmark Co. in Boca Raton, Florida.

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