A source has informed me that Google is in the process of purchasing a massive amount of bandwidth and a major network upgrade. The source didn't confirm or deny whether Google was purchasing bandwidth from Level3, but all signs point to Level3. Now I don't want to go down the Google VoIP road which up till now was mere speculation and rumor based on Google's recent interest in 'dark fiber'.
However, my souce said that the amount of bandwidth purchased could only mean one thing - video. Of course video could be just about anything. Is Google going to offer videoconferencing, video streaming, video-on-demand? Imagine if it is video-on-demand. Google can offer movies for paid download ala the iTunes model.
Of course, the pay-per-download model so far has only really taken off with music and not movies.For example, Movelink offers movie downloads for $1.99 - $4.99, and I've tried it myself, but it hasn't taken off like iTunes has. One problem is the damn selection - it's way too limited. I expect Movielink to have at least the same number of movies as NetFlix, if not more, since Netflix has to pay for the DVD costs, mailing costs, inventory, etc. Movielink simply stories movies as a digital file on hard disks and merely has to pay for bandwidth and hard disk storage. Maybe Hollywood still is uncomfortable even with DRM protections put into the movie digital files?
Well, can Google succeed where Movielink has failed? Are they buying loads of bandwidth for video-on-demand? Why not take this one step further and speculate that Google could become the next Comcast, Time Warner Cable, etc. and offer live TV programming using the Internet as the deliver mechanism?
With Google's market capitalization they can buy and build their own TV network using not coax or satellite to deliver live TV programming but whatever broadband pipe you have. With a ton of bandwidth available and with the proper QoS mechanisms in place they can stream live TV programming to Google TV subscribers.
GTV anyone?
Google TV
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Listed below are links to sites that reference Google TV:
Google TV TrackBack URL : http://blog.tmcnet.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/6854
Tom Keating has learned that Google is in the process of purchasing a large quantity of bandwidth as well as planning a network upgrade. He has previously speculated that it was going to be put to use in a VoIP telephone service. Now he is saying tha... Read More
In case you missed the story on Google TV -- or is it a rumor. We'll have to wait and see.Here is an excerpt from Tom's blog:However, my source said that the amount of bandwidth purchased could only mean one... Read More
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Related Entries
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- SlingCatcher brings YouTube videos to your TV
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- Google Voice + Gizmo5 = Free Inbound & Outbound Calls
- Slacker Radio App will be pushed on to every Verizon BlackBerry Storm
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LVLT? HOLD ALL BETS
Its a long way from dark fiber to IPTV. If Google wanted to launch GTV tomorrow, LVLT would be a poor choice as their carrier. LVLT awaits a major upgrade to 40gbs, sometime in 2006-7.
As of today, only Wiltel, Qwest and Broadwing have enough optical bandwidth to support true-IPTV.
I would bet on Broadwing as being Google's partner ahead of the other two, because they are the only carrier that has a dedicated video transport system in operation today and they own a 800gbs national OOO backbone, to do the heavy lifting.
No disrespect to the writer of that blog, but VoIP is a far cry from IPTV. If youre talking HDTV and all the goodies buyers will demand. Place your bet on Broadwing to be the partner Google will go with.