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Google Fiber Set Top Box Clears FCC
Google Fiber GFHD100 'IP Set-Top Box' Hints at IPTV Plans

Google's 1 Gbps residential fiber build is officially underway in Kansas City, with consumers expected to be up and running with ultra-fast broadband sometime in the second half of the year. Rumors have established that Google is also planning to offer those users an IPTV service based on FCC license applications and filings with the Missouri Public Service Commission.

A little more evidence emerged this week in the form of a Google Fiber GFHD100 'IP set-top box' that's winding its way through the FCC approval process. The "Google fiber" labeled device is sporting Wi-Fi, IR, USB, Ethernet, HDMI input and output and an Ethernet/coax connection (the latter potentially for MOCA networking). Again Kansas City will be an interesting scenario to watch (and most incumbent executives' worst nightmare) where Google will control the pipe, the ad/content, and the set top hardware.
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caster
@dsl.net

caster

Anon

NO DVR?

NO DVR? or is that a different box?
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon

Member

Re: NO DVR?

Maybe Google will have a software based DVR for separate computer. Or maybe store content on Google servers.

djdanska
Rudie32
Premium Member
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA

djdanska

Premium Member

Re: NO DVR?

It would be sweet to be able to watch your dvr'd programs on your android smartphone or tablet.

rchandra
Stargate Universe fan
Premium Member
join:2000-11-09
14225-2105

rchandra to xenophon

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to xenophon
Or make it look network-wise like a Silicondust box, and have MythTV be able to record. To me that'd be the bees' knees.

cast sucks
@dsl.net

cast sucks

Anon

well others do control content

well others do control content lets see how far google tv gets with out ESPN or FSN?

GlennLouEarl
3 brothers, 1 gone
Premium Member
join:2002-11-17
Richmond, VA

1 recommendation

GlennLouEarl

Premium Member

Re: well others do control content

I think I'd be willing to pay a dollar to ensure that ESPN and any other Disney properties were excluded from the package.
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25

Member

Re: well others do control content

Hell, I would pay 2 dollars to exclude them.
Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA

Sammer to GlennLouEarl

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to GlennLouEarl
said by GlennLouEarl:

I think I'd be willing to pay a dollar to ensure that ESPN and any other Disney properties were excluded from the package.

Better be willing to pay a whole lot more than a a dollar because Disney will accept Google's money just like they do the money of others.

GlennLouEarl
3 brothers, 1 gone
Premium Member
join:2002-11-17
Richmond, VA

GlennLouEarl

Premium Member

Re: well others do control content

And I'm OK with anyone who's willing to pay for something they want--along with the inevitable increases every year (or every few months)--actually being able to get what they want. But does that mean I should have to pay to subsidize the viewing habits of others by having to pay for stuff I don't want? I'm just saying that spending a small fee to avoid a much larger and ever-increasing fee is something I could get behind. (As it is, they get no money at all from me--they don't give me what I want, so I don't give them what they want.)
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

1 recommendation

openbox9

Premium Member

I love the irony

said by Karl Bode:

Again Kansas City will be an interesting scenario to watch (and most incumbent executives' worst nightmare) where Google will control the pipe, the ad/content, and the set top hardware.

I'm continually amazed when the sentiment is in favor of Google being the monopoly, but quickly turns negative with any other business entity. Hopefully this works out well for everyone.
BosstonesOwn
join:2002-12-15
Wakefield, MA

BosstonesOwn

Member

Re: I love the irony

Hey if others are allowed why not google ?

Personally I think this wreaks of ad revenues instead of a real world test like they said. If this is successful maybe we get lower cost tv subsidized by ads delivered to our tvs, that are actually for products we may want ?
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon

Member

Re: I love the irony

Is no different than what Hulu does.. they allow you to click to respond if the ad is or is not relevant to you. You'd think advertisers would love to have that info and would want Google to expand on that.

starreem
Premium Member
join:2000-12-22
Raleigh, NC

starreem

Premium Member

Re: I love the irony

I used to click every single ad was not relevant to me. Then I realized it was like responding "unsubscribe" to spam email, if I clicked, that would just confirm they had a real live viewer. Now I just get up and hit the can, or the fridge.
25139889 (banned)
join:2011-10-25
Toledo, OH

25139889 (banned) to BosstonesOwn

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The content owners would have to permit that of course. If Google started taking out ads, they'd pull their rebroadcast rights that second.

Everyone forgets that that Google owns no content and still has to answer to bigger companies that own's what Google will need for their TV.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to BosstonesOwn

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to BosstonesOwn
said by BosstonesOwn:

Hey if others are allowed why not google ?

I wasn't suggesting to disallow it, more so the irony of it being acceptable as long as it's Google doing it.

El Quintron
Cancel Culture Ambassador
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join:2008-04-28
Tronna

El Quintron to openbox9

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said by openbox9:

I'm continually amazed when the sentiment is in favor of Google being the monopoly, but quickly turns negative with any other business entity. Hopefully this works out well for everyone.

I think the perceived enthusiasm here has more to do with Google raising the bar, rather than Google as a monopoly.

FWIW: When I worked for the incumbent phone company in Ottawa back in 1999-2000 era the only residential internet they offered was overpriced dial-up with no unlimited option. When the cable company showed up with unlimited broadband of all things, people were overjoyed, not only because CableCo's offering was the same price as Telco's dialup offerings, but also because it meant that Telco would be forced to *finally* roll out broadband to compete with Cable.
Cobra11M
join:2010-12-23
Mineral Wells, TX

Cobra11M

Member

Re: I love the irony

said by El Quintron:

said by openbox9:

I'm continually amazed when the sentiment is in favor of Google being the monopoly, but quickly turns negative with any other business entity. Hopefully this works out well for everyone.

I think the perceived enthusiasm here has more to do with Google raising the bar, rather than Google as a monopoly.

FWIW: When I worked for the incumbent phone company in Ottawa back in 1999-2000 era the only residential internet they offered was overpriced dial-up with no unlimited option. When the cable company showed up with unlimited broadband of all things, people were overjoyed, not only because CableCo's offering was the same price as Telco's dialup offerings, but also because it meant that Telco would be forced to *finally* roll out broadband to compete with Cable.

I see them raising the bar to, cable industry IS a monopoly, and so is the wireless industry, I hope that Google plans more city's in the future and show that these companies have to change!, these cable companies have all this capacity but they lie to the gov and say no we don't we have to charge is complete bull. Fiber will annihilate any cable co it don't matter what the cable company's do.

ITALIAN926
join:2003-08-16

ITALIAN926 to openbox9

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to openbox9
Wait till they all find out the Google turns out to be no different from any other carrier.
25139889 (banned)
join:2011-10-25
Toledo, OH

25139889 (banned)

Member

Re: I love the irony

and they've shown that already and will keep doing it.

PatPatate
join:2008-02-10
Sainte-Julie, QC

PatPatate to openbox9

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to openbox9
Well, the thing is that Google will most likely offer much better service than others.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: I love the irony

Umm, how so? I haven't exactly seen Google being a great "service" provider. It likes to throw out a lot of products, but services are a different story IMO.
SuperWISP
join:2007-04-17
Laramie, WY

SuperWISP

Member

Irony

I find it ironic that DSL Reports rages so hard against the "evil monopolies" of the phone company and cable company, but favors Google controlling "the pipe, the ad/content, and the set top hardware." Why? Could it be because Google is an advertiser?
comp
Premium Member
join:2001-08-16
Evans City, PA

comp

Premium Member

Re: Irony

Where does it say they favor it?

skuv
@rr.com

skuv

Anon

Re: Irony

said by comp:

Where does it say they favor it?

They're implying that the incumbents would be afraid of it, thus making it, presumably, a good thing.
CWO
join:2005-02-24
Chicago, IL

CWO

Member

Re: Irony

Just because the incumbents would be afraid of it doesn't necessarily mean support for it nor does it mean that its a good thing.
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25 to SuperWISP

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to SuperWISP
For one they are a game changer.

They are not even in the business and yet they are rolling out a better network than 99.999% of all those monopolies that have been for decades.

For two they will disrupt the current model.

No matter how you fight it, they will have an impact on the service, speed and price of offerings in the areas they roll out in.
Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA

Sammer

Member

Re: Irony

said by Skippy25:

No matter how you fight it, they will have an impact on the service, speed and price of offerings in the areas they roll out in.

It amazes me that anyone thinks the cable companies (excepting those in the KC area) are afraid of this. Google is doing their KC fiber project to learn how to make more money from the internet and most if not all cable companies would also like to learn that. As long as Google doesn't try to become a very large ISP the cable companies will not regard Google as the enemy. Don't hold your breath waiting for Google to roll out in other areas because the total number will probably never exceed what can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Wilsdom
join:2009-08-06

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to SuperWISP
There is rage against specific evil actions of those monopolies. If Comcast wants to roll out 1Gb fiber it would be great too...oh, wait they'll "raise the cap" to 500GB--yep, evil.
25139889 (banned)
join:2011-10-25
Toledo, OH

25139889 (banned) to SuperWISP

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to SuperWISP
They are only in favor of Google because Google PAYS DSLR/Karl's pay check. Log out and see how many ads are actually part of the Google network. Also look at the cookies they drop on your computer for stats. They're all going back to Google.

DataRiker
Premium Member
join:2002-05-19
00000

DataRiker

Premium Member

Re: Irony

said by 25139889:

They are only in favor of Google because Google PAYS DSLR/Karl's pay check. Log out and see how many ads are actually part of the Google network. Also look at the cookies they drop on your computer for stats. They're all going back to Google.

It has nothing to do with the fact they are rolling out 1 gbit/s fiber for the same price as Cable?

Rangersfan
@sbcglobal.net

Rangersfan

Anon

Re: Irony

I didn't realize that Google had already announced pricing.

DataRiker
Premium Member
join:2002-05-19
00000

DataRiker

Premium Member

Re: Irony

»googlefiberblog.blogspot.com/

TOWN HALL QUESTIONS PART 1

Q: How much will it cost?

A: It's too early to say how much we plan to charge for service, but we do plan to set prices that are competitive to what people are currently paying for broadband access.

My best guess is 60 dollars.
uteck
join:2009-12-30
Elgin, IL

uteck

Member

Is this why they bought SageTV?

They have had this DVR software for about a year, so it would be cool if they built it into their hardware.

•••
Mrq6
join:2011-05-11
Warren, MI

Mrq6

Member

Great News...for Kansas City

Being a techie junkie I really will be moving to KC now Especially since I'm stuck in Detroit-metro area with ATT crappy U-Verse and Sprint's no 4G/LTE Only problem is can't move since my home is worth 100K less from what I purchased 8 years ago and my wife will not agree that 1Gbps Google Internet is not good enough reason to move.
25139889 (banned)
join:2011-10-25
Toledo, OH

25139889 (banned)

Member

Re: Great News...for Kansas City

Michigan has open rules for anyone to build. They already have a group of people putting in a commuter train system for the SE Michigan area. Why not get a group of people together and build a Co-Op Fiber network? Oh wait- over building does NOT work. And Google will find that out when they're forced to pay someone for Customer Service/billing/and truck rolls.
StLCardsFan
join:2011-06-06
Lafayette, LA

StLCardsFan

Member

Re: Great News...for Kansas City

and what exactly is over-building besides an industry coined term that is meaningless. How else do you suppose an "outsider" install a network? Maybe Cogent "overbuilt" the existing ATT network. Maybe level3 overbuilt cogent's network. Oh wait ..maybe verizon overbuilt sprints network ... hrrm.

What a sheeple you are.
Kamus
join:2011-01-27
El Paso, TX

Kamus

Member

Eh, i don't like it.

The whole idea behind a 1 gigabit connection from Google is to disrupt.
Offering "cable TV" is missing the point of the thing.
If they were really thinking about offering some sort of TV service, why not do it over the open internet and offer it to everyone? Not just their fiber clients.

This is how Google has done everything else, and it makes very little sense to build a walled garden just for this. when the other way has been so successful AND disruptive

With the speeds they offer, they could add a "very high quality" setting that would show the benefits of having a gigabit connection. Like for example: having bluray bitrates on every room in the house. as opposed to the quality other users with lesser connections would get.

They would show they would also show the benefits of having a connection that isn't easily congested. because they could have multiple downloads and uploads of other applications people might use at the same time with out any performance penalty.

For something that is considered to be a "disruptive" service, this makes very little sense.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Google Fiber

I hope Google expands their fiber offering to areas where Verizon does not seem to want to expand FiOS to such as Springfield, MA.

I'll take Google Fiber over Comcast anyday. Maybe Apple can enter the ISP business as well. They've got the cash.

Springfield (MA) would not be too difficult to wire for Fiber as most of the housing stock is one and two family homes. Duplexes are wired like single family except they run two drops to the street.
StLCardsFan
join:2011-06-06
Lafayette, LA

1 edit

StLCardsFan

Member

everything google is building in KC is for their cloud

You can speculate all you want ... Googles eye is on cloud computing.

The writing has been on the wall for a few years at least ... hence the legions of android users ..its relative ease of installation on any piece of electronic communications equipment .. and most recently ..chromebooks.

The expense for the initial network in KC is mere peanuts ... they will have the real world ability for anyone on their network to go without windows, linux, or apple os's. Of course you'll be able to use whatever OS you can dream of ... but why spend all that money on useless hardware when google will supply it for you. DUH

The TV ..another no brainer ... on 1 or 10gbit connections they will have the ability to supply lightning fast internet and loss-less tv feeds 24/7... and i would figure its a simple bi-product of having a mass of what most clueless people would describe as "overbuild" or needless speed.

The possibilities are endless as to what google could feature. Why not their own phone service...they already have google voice... they could do their own wifi radio stations .. their own network cellphones ... whatever you and I or anyone can or can't think of presently.

Lastly, while the present incumbents are scratching their heads trying to figure out how to squeeze a few extra mbits from their century old copper plants ...google will change come cards and have 100gbit available and will be set for at least the next century without any real capital investments to speak of.

Oh ..and those that have said there are bigger companies for Google to worry about? Who is that? I don't think all the TV networks combined have the financial means to sink google.
OwlSaver
OwlSaver
Premium Member
join:2005-01-30
Berwyn, PA

OwlSaver

Premium Member

Maybe Google will offer a dumb pipe approach...

If they set up the 1Gbps network and an IPTV STB. They could let any content provider make their content available over the IPTV STB. Google could provide the billing but the subscriber would select the channels that they want. That would be a game changer.

It will also be interesting to see how Google integrates You Tube into this. Particularly since You tube is creating original content.
Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA

Sammer

Member

Re: Maybe Google will offer a dumb pipe approach...

said by OwlSaver:

If they set up the 1Gbps network and an IPTV STB. They could let any content provider make their content available over the IPTV STB. Google could provide the billing but the subscriber would select the channels that they want. That would be a game changer.

It's doubtful that the major content providers will allow them to have no bundling. However they could try smaller bundles rather than large tiers such as one bundle with mostly Disney / ABC / ESPN, another with mostly Newscorp / Fox, a third with mostly Viacom, etc.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

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to OwlSaver
well RSN have to get blackouts right and you can't just off IPTV and have all the RSN open without blackouts from people who are not in that teams zone.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

Tick Tock...

June 6 and counting GOOGLE! Tick, Tock, Tick Tock!