How a little knowledge is a dangerous thing especially in the hands of people making investments. There is no question that “The Motley Fool” provides investment advice; therefore, it is in the business of analyzing and editorializing so I’m fine with Tim’s predictions. I’m just going to debunk them as foolish.
Google’s Wi-Fi initiative is complementary to Google Fiber. Their objectives are to increase people coming to Google properties to look at ads and content. We all know that Wi-Fi signals barely cover most homes and that they need a wired network behind them to work. What Google is doing is providing public broadband access to compete against other wireless providers. These little Wi-Fi hotspots will not provide a signal into residential neighborhoods so it is no threat to Google Fiber that has deviated from its initial mission.
Secondly Google is supporting the misinformation campaign of “net neutrality” because it is in its best interest all the while expanding Google Fiber and Wi-Fi to prepare for the era of “walled gardens” should they occur. Providing free power and cooling is a token effort for only those content providers large enough like themselves and Netflix to deploy thousands of servers across the country instead of relying on content delivery companies and managed services.
Is it still net neutrality when a small startup cannot afford to create their own caching appliance to deploy in all of these offices like Netflix and Google? Aren’t these little startups at a disadvantage and a virtual walled garden is created? Hmmm. The content providers, of which Google is one, are merely trying to preserve status quo to maintain their bandwidth costs and keep smaller players out of the game all while trying to appear to be not evil.
I’m not saying Google is evil no more than I’m saying that Comcast is evil. They are just behaving like any market-driven company until they divert from capitalism and use the government to gain a business advantage.
By Tim Beyers
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL ) (NASDAQ: GOOG ) may not need to blanket the country with Fiber after all, Fool contributor Tim Beyers says in the following video.
According to a report in The Information (via Android and Me), the search king plans to supply businesses with low-cost Wi-Fi equipment for enabling broadband access at retail locations and the like. A recent deal with Starbucks to power Wi-Fi at its various locations could serve as a template for others.
Why should Google investors care? Tim says it’s a sneaky way to build a comprehensive broadband infrastructure without incurring the hefty capital costs of a national Google Fiber network. Retailers benefit by giving customers reason to hang around their shops longer, increasing the odds of spending on higher-margin snacks and drinks.
Meanwhile, Google is also rallying behind Netflix in its fight to preserve net neutrality. In a post at its Google Fiber blog, director of engineering Jeffrey Burgan said the company provides “free access to space and power” for those shipping content around the Web. “Since people usually only stream one video at a time, video traffic doesn’t bog down or change the way we manage our network in any meaningful way–so why not help enable it?” Burgan wrote.
The message: Google doesn’t want a tiered, heavily managed Internet where Netflix paysComcast for direct access. Instead, CEO Larry Page wants unfettered, high-speed access for anyone who wants to get online. That probably means disrupting the existing cable and Internet incumbents. Giving businesses low-cost Wi-Fi equipment looks to be a small step in that direction.
Now it’s your turn to weigh in. Do you see Google-supplied Wi-Fi and Google Fiber disrupting the existing broadband infrastructure? Why or why not? Please watch the video to get the full story and then leave a comment to let us know your take, including whether you would buy, sell, or short Google stock at current prices.
