[Gslug-general] Google Fiber Network

[Andrew Sweger]

I'm not so sure. From what little I understand of the utility game, the
city issues charters to companies that effectively give them a monopoly on
the poles (which is the large majority of Seattle's electrical utility
distribution system). There's a Verizon conduit that runs right down my
street, right next to a Qwest conduit, and yet there's no way I'll see
Verizon Fios in North Seattle. Qwest owns the "telephone" slot and Comcast
owns the "cable TV" slot on my telephone pole. There is no "Internet"
slot (yet).

It was a little disappointing to read the city's press release about the
Google RFI. They seems more interested in how the city (government) could
make use of it.

My bet is Seattle and other big muni's will not be high on Google's list.
They tend to trip over their own feet (and the deals they've made with the
entrenched service providers) too much. If Google and Seattle were to try
something like this, the law suits would fly fast. Just look what happens
to communities that try to make telecom a (DIY) public utility.

Despite my cynicism, I wish Google all the luck and I hope they shake
things up (again).

On Fri, 12 Feb 2010, Benjamin Krueger wrote:

> Verizon and Comcast are poopin bricks right now. Frantically  
> calculating how their profit margins are going to be eaten away for  
> ridiculous things like "network upgrades" and "expansion" because  
> there's finally some competition in their market.
> 
> On Feb 12, 2010, at 3:00 PM, Jason Self wrote:
> 
> > Oh please, oh please, oh please pick Seattle...
> >
> > http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/newsdetail.asp?ID=10520&dept=48
> >
> > http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/think-big-with-gig-our-experimental.html
> > _______________________________________________
> > Gslug-general mailing list
> > Gslug-general at gslug.org
> > http://lists.gslug.org/mailman/listinfo/gslug-general
> 
> Benjamin Krueger
> benjamin at seattlefenix.net
> 
> 
> 
> 

-- 
Andrew B. Sweger -- The great thing about multitasking is that several
                                things can go wrong at once.