I received this in an email from NewsMax.com -
- Quote -
GoogleNet: Building the Mother of All Networks
Google is building a national broadband network massive enough to rival even the largest Internet service providers - and free Wi-Fi access from Google could be just around the corner.
For the past year the company has been quietly shopping for miles of unused fiber-optic cable, and acquiring superfast connections between East Coast cities, according to Business 2.0. magazine.
"The rash of telecom bankruptcies has freed up a ton of bargain-priced capacity, which Google needs as it prepares to unleash a flood of new, bandwidth-hungry applications," the magazine reports.
These could include a service to troll podcasts and other audio files, and another to let users share personal videos and watch on-demand TV programming.
Building a network would also save Google millions of dollars a month, since it currently utilizes a network owned by an ISP when a user performs a search and Google has to pay as much as $60 per megabit in transit fees.
Once the network - which Business 2.0 dubs GoogleNet - is up and running, users could connect via wireless Internet after Google blankets major cities with Wi-Fi.
And the magazine speculates that Google plans to do just that. The company is already sponsoring a Wi-Fi hotspot in San Francisco.
"So is Google about to offer free Net access to everyone?" Business 2.0 asks.
Google officials aren't saying. But stay tuned.
- end quote -
prying1 sez:
I'm not knowledgeable on Wi-Fi but I do know that with the right equipment the signal can be 'borrowed' by neighbors and even passers by. Bradley Mitchell has several articles at About.com - "Computing and Technology section" He says, "Firewalls are not 100% bulletproof" against hacking so if this service comes about and when people decide to jump on the bandwagon I would suggest simply shutting down the connection when not in use.
Will Google eventually become the ruler of the internet/www world? Would that be a good or a bad thing? The internet/www is pretty big but logically some company must be the biggest. Up to this point I have not seen Google make any moves that would appear to be evil. It might be that behind the scenes Google heads are controlling and making demands of people that forces them to go against their consciences but there is absolutely no evidence of such behaviour. Neither has any moves they have made shown a propensity to move toward the 'Dark Side'...
|