Re: Google Plans to Build Ultra High-Speed Broadband Networks

[Dave Farber <dfarber () me com>]

> From: "Bill Stewart" <bill.stewart () pobox com>
> To: <dave () farber net>, <ip () v2 listbox com>
> Date: February 14, 2010 11:50:11 PM EST
> Subject: [IP] Google Plans to Build Ultra High-Speed Broadband Networks
>
> > Now, with respect to whether Google will cherry pick locations,
> > I believe it is only fair to wait and see before passing judgment.
>
> Of course they'll cherry pick; there's really no alternative.
> First of all, they'll need to build in areas where they think
> they can find a market (though their perceptions of what kind
> of market to pursue may be different from other CLECs or ILECs,
> which is a Good Thing.)  They'd be fools to start by trying to
> compete for Brett Glass's Lariat.net rural wireless customers,
> for example, as opposed to a densely packed city or suburb,
> though they might well decide to start with an area that
> isn't already served by Verizon FIOS or AT&T Uverse,
> or where they think they can beat the local Cable TV carrier.
>
> But also, local regulations can have a huge impact on
> choices of markets.  Some cities or counties place
> unsustainable burdens on construction, or insist on an
> unreasonable fraction of revenue for business fiber builds,
> or run their own municipal fiber and are hostile to competition,
> or have geographical problems like rivers and freeways
> (and bureaucratic obstacles to crossing the freeways.)
>
> If you remember the early 80s, when cable TV was being built
> town by town, the important issues often weren't which company
> had a far-reaching vision for the future of communications,
> but which city council member's brother-in-law would get the
> paving contract or how many free public access channels there'd be.
> The FCC and state PUCs have reduced the power of local governments
> to interfere, but street construction is still street construction,
> and poles and conduits often have complex ownership and usage limitations.
>
> As far as customer service goes, I was a Netcom customer when they
> were growing from 10,000 subscribers in the mid 90s to 100,000,
> and on-hold times could be 45 minutes some years...


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