Google Wi-Fi Imminent?
Paid Content reports Google is: reviewing bids received from multiple technology vendors for the development of a national DWDM fiber network, an optical switching fabric that would cover the entire continental U.S., and ultimately the globe.
Here are more details from Reuters which appear to confirm the veracity of some version of the GoogleNet rumor, including this and this. Let’s be sober about rumors (and recognize that things typically play out differently than rumored). But, if true, there are lots of implications:
* Google would know precisely where users were and could serve accurate location-specific ads
* Broadband consumer trends would accelerate
* GoogleTalk would have much broader reach
* The company would capture lots of user data/registration information
* Google would in one stroke destroy the ISP business model or force it to change into ad-supported, free access or offer premium services to stay alive as a fee-based service
* The company would have a kind of potential presence on the desktop that would rival Microsoft
Lots more to come on this I’m sure.
