8 Signs Google is Planning to Build a National Wireless Network

Google tries to hide it, but this article provides 8 reasons why one of the world's most successful companies is trying to build a national wireless network.

1. The Internet Doctor Prescribes Dark Fiber
Google acquires dark fiber lines.
Perhaps the most convincing evidence of Google's plans to build a national wireless network comes in the form of dark fiber. For the past few years Google has been acquiring unused (or dark) fiber lines dating back to the internet boom of the 1990s. These fiber lines were laid out across the United States (and for that matter the globe) and are currently inactive, making them perfect candidates to serve as the infrastructure for an ISP. Companies like Comcast are able to expand their networks cheaply by purchasing dark fiber lines, so why couldn't the new guy in town, Google, do the same thing?
People opposed to this notion argue that Google is simply acquiring the dark fiber lines to reduce peering costs by buying as much bandwidth as possible. While this is certainly a logical conclusion, it does not explain the lopsided relationship between Google's "service demands and the reputed scale of its computing resources" – meaning Google is preparing exponentially for a future internet boom that won't happen, unless they're planning on something monumental like a national wireless network.

2. Investing in Unconventional Places
Google lays capital to power line based broadband.
When it comes to comparing the reach of fiber cables to power lines, there really isn't a comparison – power lines have been around for more than 150 years and encompass an audience that fiber cables only wish to obtain. In short, power lines are older and subsequently accessible to a greater number of people.
Using this knowledge, telecommunications company Current Communications has developed a technology to offer broadband internet services distributed across a company's power grids. The technology's original implementation in Cincinnati with electric utility company Cinergy generated such a buzz that the technology has evolved into a world wide reality. Countries such as Brazil, Algeria, India, and Niger are currently employing their own versions of broadband over power lines (BPL) for VoIP services.
Since 2005, Google has invested tens-of-millions of dollars into Current Communications, and serves as one of the company's major backers. With power lines being the only telecommunications medium that has a true nationwide audience, investing in a BPL provider would be a very wise move for a company wishing to create its own national wireless network.

3. The Mountain View Lamppost Phenomenon
Google offers free WiFi in Mountain View, California.
The first implementation of Google's wireless network started in the company's home city Mountain View, California. There, Google created a network consisting of 380 access points covering 11.5 square miles. To maximize network range, and reduce the cost of laying fiber lines, Google mounted WiFi transceivers on top of the cities lampposts.
Although a national wireless network powered by lampposts sounds absurd (and very time consuming to set up), Google's implementation in Mountain View serves as a prime example of what Google is capable of, and may have been the company's first small-scale test of nationwide WiFi implementation.
To view a map of the Mountain View WiFi network click here.

4. Google Frees San Francisco
Google to develop free WiFi for San Francisco, California.
In 2004 San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom issued a challenge to the businesses in the area to create "affordable internet that is accessible to all San Franciscans regardless of geography or income." Google answered the challenge by submitting a proposal to offer free wireless to all the cities inhabitants "without cost to the city." San Francisco happily obliged.
"We believe that ubiquitous, affordable internet access is a crucial aspect of humanity's social and economic development, and that working to supply free WiFi is a major step in that direction." – Google
To implement their plan, Google will install up to 30 WiFi antennas per square mile and develop a signal capable of offering 300K bit/sec capable of reaching the front area of buildings up through the first few floors.
This act might be perceived as the second step of Google's national wireless implementation. Google started small with Mountain View to make sure their techniques would work. From there the company shifted its view to a larger audience in San Francisco. If all goes according to plan in San Francisco, could the entire United States be next?

5. Google Does Not Like Your ISP
Google is the driving force behind net neutrality.
For the past year Google has been locked into heated debates with the likes of Verizon, Comcast and other internet service providers concerning the advantages and consequences of net neutrality. The debate is such a hot topic that it is currently receiving attention from the FCC, lobbyists and The United States Senate in Washington D.C.
Net neutrality enables internet users to visit any website and use any internet service regardless of its content or who is running it. By regulating net neutrality, an internet service provider would control which areas of the web you could and could not visit, effectively shutting out competitors.
Verizon executive John Thorne compared Google to a person receiving a "free lunch" without having to work for it.
"The network builders are spending a fortune constructing and maintaining the networks that Google intends to ride on with nothing but cheap servers." – Verizon executive John Thorne
If anti-net neutrality laws were enacted, companies like Google would be charged premiums by ISPs in order to have their websites accessible to the ISPs user base. Should the companies fail to pay the premiums, their website would be inaccessible to internet users on that particular ISP.
To fight this, Google is playing a very active role in defending net neutrality by participating in the Senate hearings and posting various forms of propaganda online, making it very clear they have no intention of paying the "tolls" ISPs are trying to institute.
So what would Google do if anti-net neutrality laws became a reality? Simple, create their own national wireless network.

6. Free Meets Risk-Free
Google provides free, secure WiFi access.
If you're one of the lucky few that get to use one of Google's free WiFi networks, you've probably noticed that the network is unsecured. To solve any security issues consumers might face by surfing on an unsecured WiFi network, Google has developed Google Secure Access, a client used to create a personal virtual private network (VPN) while surfing.
Privacy is a very important issue to the American constituent. American's will go as far as selecting inferior ISPs just because they are more secure (or described that way on television anyhow). For a national wireless network to have any sort of success, it must be secure. The Google Secure Access client is the first step in developing a free, secure wireless solution.

7. Google Data Centers are Coming to a Town Near You
The number and size of Google data centers are exponentially increasing.
The Dalles, Oregon, a peaceful town on the Columbia River that has a population of 12,500, is responsible for creating the LaPerm breed of cat, and boasts a rather large windsurfing crowd. Surprisingly, it also maintains a 34,000 square foot Google data center.
Google data centers like the one in The Dalles are popping up all over, and they all have three things in common: 1) they're huge, designed to manage millions of users, 2) they're near power facilities, and 3) they seem to be out of place.
Data super centers like the current ones Google has been developing require a lot of juice, but not so much that their locations would be such a key factor, after all, Google isn't developing internet backbones like AT&T or Level3...or are they?
Why would a company require such large strategically placed data centers? A spokesperson from Google was quoted as saying "As the breadth of our services and number of users grow, we will build additional infrastructure to support them." While that explanation is true in its own right, it fails to explain that the infrastructure Google currently maintains is disproportionately large compared to the amount of traffic Google experiences. The infrastructure is so large that it reportedly could support a parallel or secondary form of the internet, or perhaps a national wireless network?

8. Horizontal and Vertical Integration
Google is taking over the internet.
If Google were an entrepreneur in the 19th century it would be comparable to Andrew Carnegie, the genius behind Carnegie and U.S. Steel. Andrew Carnegie practiced vertical and horizontal integration, the acts of controlling the entire product creation process and consuming all of the competition.
Google is currently involved in virtually every aspect of the internet. Google provides users with the largest video library on the internet through You Tube. Google boasts VoIP technology through Google Talk. Google is slowly creeping into the standard office via Google Docs & Spreadsheets. Google is one of the leading web2.0 application developers, with successful software including Google Calendar, Checkout, and Page Creator. And oh yea, then there's that ever present search page.
Essentially, if it's popular, Google has a piece of it, or is busy trying to find out how to get it. So what part of the equation is missing here? Google as an ISP. With internet users moving towards wireless connectivity, it only fits that Google would be busy trying to develop a national wireless network.

Despite all of these events having strong ties to each other, Google is still denying any plans to compete with the likes of SBC, AT&T, etc. in providing a national internet solution. However, once the idea becomes lucrative enough -- and it will -- anything is possible for a company like Google. And considering the company's previous ambitions -- complete internet dominance -- building a national wireless internet seems the logical next frontier to be conquered.