Google Fiber to service Austin, TX

[Coleman]

Google Fiber announced they are rolling out to their 3rd market today...Provo Utah.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57580113-93/google-fiber-coming-to-provos-silicon-slopes/


This is happening faster than some people thought...

[ChicosBailBonds]

Google Fiber announced they are rolling out to their 3rd market today...Provo Utah.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57580113-93/google-fiber-coming-to-provos-silicon-slopes/


This is happening faster than some people thought...

Google is buying an existing network, iProvo, that cost about $40 million to build, for $1.   Not a typo, $1.

[Coleman]

Next batch of potential cities announced

http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/19/technology/google-fiber/index.html?iid=Lead

[brandx]

This. The more people that Google can get online, and stay online, and do more online generates more profit for Google. So it's really only a benefit for them to be doing Google Fiber and pushing the Telcos to do more.

+1

The Telcos won't cede fiber to Google. They will spend whatever is necessary to try to keep pace. Their future in hi-speed depends on it.

[GOO]

Having Google around is insurance against getting screwed by the ISP monopoly serving you... so I hope they keep expanding.   And I agree that the threat and reality of Google Fiber makes the traditional ISP monopoly make some upgrades.

How come South Korea is talking about rolling out a 5G network and we are still rolling out 4G in the US? 

I think wireless may leap frog cable a some point, at least for suburbs of large cities.  I was thinking about dumping some VZ stock that I've owned for a long time, as wireless speeds and penetration will allow companies to bypass the need to lay cable/fiber to each house... not yet, but I see it coming.   

[jesmu84]

Having Google around is insurance against getting screwed by the ISP monopoly serving you... so I hope they keep expanding.   And I agree that the threat and reality of Google Fiber makes the traditional ISP monopoly make some upgrades.

How come South Korea is talking about rolling out a 5G network and we are still rolling out 4G in the US? 

I think wireless may leap frog cable a some point, at least for suburbs of large cities.  I was thinking about dumping some VZ stock that I've owned for a long time, as wireless speeds and penetration will allow companies to bypass the need to lay cable/fiber to each house... not yet, but I see it coming.   

"4G" is a joke.

http://gizmodo.com/5680755/the-dirty-secret-of-todays-4g-its-not-4g

Marketing.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Having Google around is insurance against getting screwed by the ISP monopoly serving you... so I hope they keep expanding.   And I agree that the threat and reality of Google Fiber makes the traditional ISP monopoly make some upgrades.

How come South Korea is talking about rolling out a 5G network and we are still rolling out 4G in the US? 

I think wireless may leap frog cable a some point, at least for suburbs of large cities.  I was thinking about dumping some VZ stock that I've owned for a long time, as wireless speeds and penetration will allow companies to bypass the need to lay cable/fiber to each house... not yet, but I see it coming.   

I'm not piling on you because its a general pet peeve of mine that so many people use that example...forgive me.  Why are we comparing S. Korea to the USA on this stuff?

Land mass of S. Korea is slightly larger than the state of Indiana.

Imagine how much easier it would be to have that dense a population in that small a space.  The costs would be fractions of what they are here, and that's why they can do it.  we are a massive nation with large swaths of land.  To cover people, it costs a ton of money, time, etc.  Even just to cover the populated areas, we're still talking about incremental costs many X factors to S. Korea or Japan or <Fill in Blank> due to size of geography.  If the USA was the size of Indiana, or California (about the size of Japan), would it not be much more cost efficient to setup towers, etc for 5G, HD everywhere (4K, 8K), so on and so forth?

Wireless has a long long long long long way to go to bypass cable in terms of true speeds the others are providing.  Don't forget, they are improving their compression schemes, etc to improve efficiencies as well. 

[GOO]

Having Google around is insurance against getting screwed by the ISP monopoly serving you... so I hope they keep expanding.   And I agree that the threat and reality of Google Fiber makes the traditional ISP monopoly make some upgrades.

How come South Korea is talking about rolling out a 5G network and we are still rolling out 4G in the US? 

I think wireless may leap frog cable a some point, at least for suburbs of large cities.  I was thinking about dumping some VZ stock that I've owned for a long time, as wireless speeds and penetration will allow companies to bypass the need to lay cable/fiber to each house... not yet, but I see it coming.   

[ChicosBailBonds]

Here's the other issue...I see your bolded suburbs and large cities.  Verizon was accused by our pals in Washington, D.C. of racial bias and other wonderful claims for how they went about laying their fiber optics for FiOS.  Accused of only bypassing homes in affluent areas, avoiding the poor areas, etc.  It became a rather public issue for them a number of years ago when they had a plan of cherry picking where they put in their infrastructure.

It's a practice called redlining, which Verizon denies, but it has been brought up many times by cities wishing for them to spend a ton of money to build infrastructure for their citizens.

Just throwing that out there as background.

[Buzzed]

Satellite internet is on the verge of disrupting the traditional cable based ISP.  Companies like O3b Networks, which is partially financed by Google, provides the same speeds as fiber.  However, there will still be a need for fiber in cities because it would be similar to getting a consistent GPS signal in downtown Chicago. 

Can't wait for Google and others to breakup the government sanctioned monopolies... coming from a guy who loathes TWC.

[jesmu84]

whoa. competition, eh?

http://bgr.com/2014/02/20/time-warner-cable-internet-speeds-austin/

also hearing that comcast has already started almost doubling speeds in atlanta since the google announcement was made.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Satellite internet is on the verge of disrupting the traditional cable based ISP.  Companies like O3b Networks, which is partially financed by Google, provides the same speeds as fiber.  However, there will still be a need for fiber in cities because it would be similar to getting a consistent GPS signal in downtown Chicago. 

Can't wait for Google and others to breakup the government sanctioned monopolies... coming from a guy who loathes TWC.

Perhaps, though for all those not comfortable with the gov't or "big cable" control, the amount of hero worship for Google I always find a bit interesting.  Is there a potentially more powerful company on the planet than Google?  A company that not only is starting to control the pipes, but controls a tremendous amount of the information or it is accessed.   Let's just say I have my own separate concerns about Google and their control.

My understanding is that OB3 will be a medium orbit deployment and will not have a coverage area that impacts the entire USA.  Mostly will cover southern USA.

[GOO]

I'm just a guy who knows little, but some serious 5G in the bigger suburbs could leap frog the current technology and reduce the cost to build it out.  I see all major cities in the US being covered by wifi sooner than later.  So, the racial issue won't be a deal.  Running cable/fiber to individual homes seems like something that won't make financial sense much longer.

I would think that some combination of apple, amazon, netflix, a phone network, etc, are at least having some discussions along these lines. It would make sense for them to do something together on the access point and give apple a place to invest some cash.
   

[ChicosBailBonds]

I was at a conference today that stated Kansas City only has a few thousand Google Fiber customers signed up.  Google won't release the information, but the number came from someone who would be inclined to know.  It was interesting to say the least.

[jesmu84]

I might get flogged for this, but why not municipalize cable/internet like water, sewer, etc?

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/02/its-dead-kansas-municipal-internet-ban-was-stabbed-shot-and-hanged/

[ChicosBailBonds]

I might get flogged for this, but why not municipalize cable/internet like water, sewer, etc?

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/02/its-dead-kansas-municipal-internet-ban-was-stabbed-shot-and-hanged/

When in doubt, tax it, legalize it, or have the gov't take it over.  The solutions to our problems.

[Coleman]

When in doubt, tax it, legalize it, or have the gov't take it over.  The solutions to our problems.

You're right. Let's privatize the our police, fire, military, prisons, schools, utilities, etc

[ChicosBailBonds]

You're right. Let's privatize the our police, fire, military, prisons, schools, utilities, etc

Private schools doing fine and have shown their value many times over.  There are private prisons, also doing fine.  Military, nope that should be a gov't function and is core to the US Constitution.  Utilities, plenty are private and function just fine. 

[Coleman]

Private schools doing fine and have shown their value many times over.  There are private prisons, also doing fine.  Military, nope that should be a gov't function and is core to the US Constitution.  Utilities, plenty are private and function just fine.  

LOL private prisons are doing just fine?

Private schools are great for the few who can afford them.

Utilities...sure the companies are doing fine, but what saves citizens the most money, a company that has to make a profit and please  shareholders, or one that doesn't?

[ChicosBailBonds]

LOL private prisons are doing just fine?

Private schools are great for the few who can afford them.

Utilities...sure the companies are doing fine, but what saves citizens the most money, a company that has to make a profit and please  shareholders, or one that doesn't?

Private companies are typically more efficient, run leaner, etc.  You should see how much it costs to run prisons here in California due to the unions vs what it costs in most every other state in this country or vs private prisons.  Those COSTS are paid for in taxes by citizens...you were saying something about saving citizens the most money...or does this not apply?

When there is no goal to be efficient, when there is little accountability to be lean, costs are bloated, results are not as good, and those costs are paid by someone....the US, State and\or Local taxpayers.  

So your point seems to have come up short since we do incur higher costs, ultimately.

And yes, the 150+ private prisons in this country are doing just fine at their core mission, and doing in efficiently.

[rmi210]

Private companies are typically more efficient, run leaner, etc.  You should see how much it costs to run prisons here in California due to the unions vs what it costs in most every other state in this country or vs private prisons.  Those COSTS are paid for in taxes by citizens...you were saying something about saving citizens the most money...or does this not apply?

When there is no goal to be efficient, when there is little accountability to be lean, costs are bloated, results are not as good, and those costs are paid by someone....the US, State and\or Local taxpayers.  

So your point seems to have come up short since we do incur higher costs, ultimately.

And yes, the 150+ private prisons in this country are doing just fine at their core mission, and doing in efficiently.

Completely and utterly false...
They may be "fine"  but to say they are more efficient is kind of just making stuff up...
http://jonathanturley.org/2013/02/03/privatized-prisons-a-bad-idea-gets-worse/
http://www.thenation.com/article/167216/arizonas-private-prisons-bad-bargain
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-takei/anonymous-exposes-uss-big_b_3567035.html

[ChicosBailBonds]

Completely and utterly false...
They may be "fine"  but to say they are more efficient is kind of just making stuff up...
http://jonathanturley.org/2013/02/03/privatized-prisons-a-bad-idea-gets-worse/
http://www.thenation.com/article/167216/arizonas-private-prisons-bad-bargain
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-takei/anonymous-exposes-uss-big_b_3567035.html

Actually, Vera Institute of Justice research rebutted these arguments quite nicely.  What these "stories" do is they take a state prison budget, divide by the number of prisoners and come up with a cost per inmate calculation.  They do the same thing for private facilities.

Only one little problem with this.  They didn't calculate the full cost for the gov't facilities but did for the private.  When you fully account for the gov't costs, the "stories" get destroyed.

Example, California they used $7 billion because that is the budget.  The actual cost, $7.9 billion



There are breakdowns of this in every state where other "analysis" (like your articles chirped) did not factor in the true costs....I wonder why.  

For example, Connecticut Department of Corrections spent $613.3 million for prisons in fiscal year 2010, but when all state costs are included, the total taxpayer cost was $929.4 million, the study said.



In total, Vera found $5.4billion in additional "hidden" costs to the gov't prison systems that those articles do not take into consideration.

SHOCKINGLY, none of your articles acknowledge this or would print a correct or retraction.  

Here's the complete study.  You are welcome.

[Buzzed]

Perhaps, though for all those not comfortable with the gov't or "big cable" control, the amount of hero worship for Google I always find a bit interesting.  Is there a potentially more powerful company on the planet than Google?  A company that not only is starting to control the pipes, but controls a tremendous amount of the information or it is accessed.   Let's just say I have my own separate concerns about Google and their control.

My understanding is that OB3 will be a medium orbit deployment and will not have a coverage area that impacts the entire USA.  Mostly will cover southern USA.

I am in agreement with you on the big gov't/cable.  We already know that Google is not necessarily holier than their peer based on their Wifi snooping in Germany.  Your comment is also fair on Google being one of the most powerful companies on the planet.  That is precisely why they can take on the regional cable monopolies.  It is high stakes poker that requires large amounts of cash that most companies do not have.  There needs to be more competition, otherwise the user gets screwed.  If competition does not increase you will continue to see more throttling and speeds half of the level you are paying for.  

Side note, interesting article on businessweek.com that discusses broadband.  Over the last decade the US has fallen compared to its peers on broadband access.  Jesmu84 comment about municipal cable may not be far off.  France which has municipal cable shot up the rankings. Increase competition, or go municipal because this hybrid option is resulting in us overpaying for a sub par product.

O3b stands for other three billion.  Their objective is to bring the internet to the three billion people that do not have access to it; mostly rural countries.  Currently they are servicing oil rigs, and cruise ships.  

[Coleman]

Chicos, just curious, do you believe in the common good? That profit should not be the end all be all in every case? That certain things, such as access to education, basic healthcare, equal carriage of justice, access to water, electricity an heat are things that should be available to all who live in the richest country in the world, even if it means less profit for mutual fund managers and stockbrokers? Or do you think that the free market should reign supreme, that winners and losers should be left to their own devices?

[Coleman]

Private prisons are a joke and an affront to democracy. Their interest is in packing as many inmates as possible into their facilities to increase profit margins, not to protect society and carry out justice.