Google to build and test high-speed broadband

SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc.
said Wednesday it is working on building a high-speed broadband network
that would be 100 times faster than today’s connections.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based
company said in a post on its blog that it is planning to “build and
test” the network “in a small number of trial locations across the United States.” The goal, Google said, is to develop a network that could download a full-length feature film in less than five minutes.

“We’ll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times
faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per
second, fiber-to-the-home connections,” the item posted by product
managers Minnie Ingersoll and James Kelly said.

“We plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people,” the post said.

The company said it is putting out “a request for information to help identify interested communities.”

Federal Communications Commission Julius Genachowski called the Google initiative “significant.”

“This significant trial will provide an American
testbed for the next generation of innovative, high-speed Internet
apps, devices, and services,” he said in a statement.

The agency’s own national broadband plan will “build
upon such private-sector initiatives and will include recommendations
for facilitating and accelerating greater investment in broadband,
creating jobs and increasing America’s global competitiveness.”

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