If we don't hear by the end of the year as Google promised, the pitchforks and torches will come out of storage.
Stanford faculty is getting it
I'm sure the selection / due diligence / contracting process is ridiculously complex, though! I would assume it would be a while before anything was announced.
You can't just show up with large bundles of fiber and hang 'em from the utility poles in jurisdictions that regulate pole attachments.
I was surprised that we weren't on the list. Be interesting to see what the next city to get residential fiber is.
I asked "What are you installing?"
"Fiber."
"For Google?" :)
"Yeah."
"The home project?"
"Yeah."
Check out this "Confidential" PDF: http://www.hpcomminc.com/pdf/Revised_Intro_Draft.pdf
Google Cache: http://goo.gl/FN2W4
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So... it looks like the GFIOS project is moving forward.
The words of the installer were "Yeah" to my question about the install being for Google.
If this were some po-dunk little company, and they did not have such a strong sales sheet - I would be less-inclined to think that installer was telling me the truth.
The fact is that I didnt reveal all info about myself - I asked him if he was installing for the [google code name for the FIOS project] and he said yes....
so - all the information that I have, leads me to believe them - though, obviously it is circumstantial.
On one hand, this is a direct shot across the bow of the cablecos/telcos. By essentially taking the roadmap of bandwidth expansion via slow, rolling upgrades over a long long period of time and going straight to the ultimate destination, GOOG is sucking a whole lot of "value" out of the existing infrastructure.
On the other hand, this will place enormous stress on the regional/long haul networks which I'll be forced to upgrade yet again. Unless they can charge more, this cant be good news for level3 or VZ or T.
I forsee an acceleration towards metered b/w in our future.
