MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – Google will build and test its own ultra high-speed broadband networks to see if it can deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than current speeds.
In a post Wednesday on the company blog, the owner of the world’s most popular search engine said that it would conduct a small number of trials at locations across the U.S., and hopes “to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people”.
Google said that it would use fibre optic lines to the home and offer speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second, but did not elaborate on whether it would build, buy or rent such services and how much the initiative would cost.
The company said the move was part of its “hope to make a meaningful contribution to the shared goal of delivering faster and better Internet for everyone”.
National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) spokesperson Brian Dietz appeared cautiously optimistic about Google’s broadband experiments.
“We look forward to learning more about Google’s broadband experiment in the handful of trial locations they are planning”, Dietz said in a statement. “The cable industry has invested $161 billion over the past 13 years to build a nationwide broadband infrastructure that is available to 92 percent of U.S. homes, and we will continue to invest billions more to continually improve the speed and performance of our networks and provide tens of millions of consumers with the best possible broadband experience.”
