Comments on: Google wants 'dark fiber'

Job listing spotlights vague plan to develop global fiber backbone. But why?

Google ain't no ISP

I do not think this has anything to do with Google planning to enter the telecom business.

What I think is that they are trying to save billions of dollars in global bandwidth costs for the long term. They have forecasted their bandwidth needs 10 years from now and have realized that it is cheaper to invest in a dark fiber backbone right now rather than pay 10 more years of global bandwidth.

It's called vertical integration. A strategy that highly profitable corporations like General Electric have used for years.

What do you think?

[katamari]

100% right.

Exactly. :-)

No Secret

Google has been posting these positions for close to 3-4 months, if not longer. They are looking for a network contract negotiator (the position the article refers to) as well as a peering manager. And they have been for some time. Its no secret, and knowing Google, its not surprising either.

[Marcus Westrup]

IPv6 toehold

Could it be that Google is also positioning itself to become the chief indexing agent for IPv6? They have the clout to push changes that may affect future protocol development, on how data is managed, moved and stored. A very powerful position to be in.

Kinda sad

The frenzy at every job posting

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More talk at http://loudboard.com

[vitaboy]

Why Google wants dark fiber

I think Google is aiming to create a worldwide P2P-like search application.

The Google desktop search app will eventually allow Google users to search other user's hard drives for items. By acquiring the dark fiber, Google becomes an ISP and can thus shield itself from the all the copyright infringing content on those users' hard drives.

If that's found to be too heavy-handed, desktop search might allow a google user to search his/her own personal hard drive (and only that person) over the Net. It's basically the next step for WebDAV. Google controlling the fiber would allow them to guarantee bandwidth and uptime for their users.

Using Occam's Razor Theory

The simple explanation is GOOGLE wants to secure distribution infrastructure for its 'world library' project (I'm not sure what they're calling it).

The project will take ~10 years to complete and entails, essentially, putting the Library of Congress on GOOGLE. Ya know, where you can search any book!

Access for something like that would require what's being suggested re:acquiring the dark fiber.

That's my 2cents, anyway.

Digitizing

Yup google is digitizing libraries and it's not just the Library of Congress it's University libraries. University of Michigan is being digitized as we speak, and I heard Wash U is doing the same.

If you can get thousands of college students to access a web site every day to study research and flat out pass college your gonna find a way to make money off it too.

[ritwikbanerjee]

Eduardo has spoken with logic and precision

I completely agree to what he has had to say about this. A company like Google should clearly look ten years into the future all the time. Vertical integration seems to be a good way of doing it.

[rffrank]

If google is building a network I want in. I have 20 years experience building fiber optic networks and facilities. rffrank2468 at aol