On February 19, Google
announced on its official blog that it
has invited cities in nine metro areas around the U.S. – 34 cities total – to
work with the company on bringing Google Fiber to those new markets. It is
encouraging that Google is starting the process of expanding fiber to as many
as 34 new locales, even though the company acknowledges it is unlikely that Google
Fiber will actually enter all of these markets. I expect that the lessons from
Google’s other fiber projects in Kansas City, Austin, and Provo will
help Google succeed in bringing more ultra-fast networks to still more
localities.
The main challenges Google
will confront in deploying its technology involve access to existing
infrastructure and infrastructure maps, and expediting construction permits. Of
course, other providers, whether cable, telephone companies, or wireless
operators have always confronted these obstacles too – probably to a greater
degree.
Local governments should facilitate
Google’s fiber deployment by reforming their processes, if necessary, to remove
any unnecessary barriers to market entry. It is important, however, that whatever
treatment or advantages a municipality offers to Google be offered to all other
market competitors. As I said in a blog last October,
providers like Verizon, Comcast, and any others should be able to “avail
themselves of the same local streamlined, expedited processes available to
Google.” And the same obligations that apply to these other private sector
providers, such as requirements for build-out, should apply to Google.
Google’s decision to expand
its broadband networks to new cities is a welcome development. Communities certainly
can benefit from high-capacity broadband facilities as consumer demand for faster
Internet continues to grow. Additionally, Google's entry will increase
competition in the markets it enters, and more competition is a good thing.
As
long as Google is not favored over similarly situated broadband providers, the
Google Fiber initiative to build out ultra high-speed broadband networks is positive.
And if Google's initiative serves to spur local governments to reform their regulatory
and permitting processes to facilitate easier entry and network build-outs,
this is surely positive too.
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