said by vp71inet:Whatever business is it that your are in or run, etc, it sounds to me like a hope from you that Google does not stay in the ISP business.
Why would a company do something this disruptive and at great cost if it does not intend to ensure it's continuity to pay back for itself and to grow profits for the future? The downside that you appear not to have expected, is the 60% interest that can translate into unprecedented demand this early in any deployment. If I were Google and assuming that this was very successful and moreover profitable and contribute to advancement of my core business I would sure as hell be looking to burn up other Cities with Fiberhood!.
I have no desire to see Google exit the ISP business. I have no dog in the fight. I am only concerned, as an investor and taxpayer, that Google, other over-builders all play by the same rules - likewise for Munis, NGOs, non-profits, coops and public utilities.
One should note that the "60%" figure only the results of a survey - wherein answers are highly dependent on how you phrase the questions. It does not, in any way, represent actual
sales of $70/month broadband. Far from it. Interest is not demand.
If you posed a similar survey in "Fios-qualified territories" six years ago, I submit you would have seen similar answers.
But we're only in the parking lot, the first quarter of the game hasn't started. Google could certainly surprise us and offer a middle-tier like Surewest/Sonic, 100M for $50, and/or a TV package for substantially less than $120/month.
So long as Google isn't violating anti-trust laws, isn't in effect, buying favorable treatment from the city, the city isn't violating the MSO and telco franchises or the takings clause, I wish them the best of luck. Their mere threat/presence will make Cableco offer up some sweet deals for pay-tv bundles.
But Google has a habit of abandoning things without comment or explanation. They're really not happy with the idea of ... doing customer service. After a while of being regulated like a telco, cableco and ISP, and after they're "forced" to wholesale their service, permit servers, and otherwise follow the network-neutrality rules that everyone here fawns over, I do indeed, expect that they will want "out".