undefined | Better HN

0 pointsbsder11y ago0 comments

> This is a business plan.

It is, but not because they have a plan beyond it, though.

Cox/Time-Warner/etc. basically shook down Google for money a couple of years ago. Google backed down and the last-mile ISPs thought they won.

Google, of course, was extremely unhappy to painfully discover that there was insufficient competition if the ISP's decided to play dirty and block their ads. So, Google now looks at the ISP's as a pure, existential threat that they must neutralize.

So, even if the ISP's upgrade or get really cheap, Google doesn't care. This is about making sure that no company ever has the ability to cut off Google's flow of ads to the consumer ever again.

Google will roll out fiber even if it's somewhat unprofitable just to slowly squeeze the ISP's into obeisance.

0 comments

aquadrop11y ago

If that's the case, it would be more effective to settle on something cheaper, let's say program '100mbit/s to every home' and cover larger area faster. I also think that it has something to do with making major ISPs less aggressive, but there's probably something else, why Google needs 1 Gb/s

mahyarm11y ago

I think as far as last mile costs goes, 100mbit or 1gbit, it isn't much different in price. It's running the wire in the first place.

And 1gbit is impressive like gmail was. It blows everyone out of the water because their competitors stagnated.

hkmurakami11y ago

Think about this in terms of a startup vs incumbent problem. The newcomer often needs to be 10x better than the incumbent in order to change the customer's habits.

Fiber is just that.

mkr-hn11y ago

I learned a new word today.

daniel-cussen11y ago

Yeah me too.

obeisance: noun: deferential respect.

Jgrubb11y ago

He, me three. I thought they mistyped obedience.

1 more reply

bsderOP11y ago

Glad to provide a valuable public service. :)

diminoten11y ago

But it is profitable, isn't it? Google keeps telling everyone that they're not going into the fiber business to lose money.

I think what's more important is that they're willing to spend money on fiber that they could spend elsewhere to get better returns. Returns on being an ISP probably aren't as good as returns on other kinds of infrastructure, at least up front.

sushirain11y ago

Vertical integration is a powerful business strategy.

rayiner11y ago

> Google will roll out fiber even if it's somewhat unprofitable just to slowly squeeze the ISP's into obeisance.

Anti-competitive conduct is good when Google does it?

bsderOP11y ago

No, but I'm also being generous in my engineering estimates to put Google in the least-flattering light. And the ISP's started this fight by blackmailing Google--don't bring a knife to a gunfight springs to mind.

Google won't take too much of a loss, if any. Once a fiber network is in place, it's almost maintenance-free for several years. In addition, Google built all their hardware from scratch to minimize cost.

Finally, you may find that Google Fiber turns the network over to the locality for anything too unprofitable. That's a win-win--the locality runs the network (and gains the profit of cable TV, etc.) and Google breaks the monopoly of the last mile.

enjo11y ago

Seems like the opposite of anti-competitive from my perspective.

rayiner11y ago

Dumping a product on the market at below-cost in order to force your competitors out of business is classic anti-competitive conduct.

9 more replies

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsbsder11y ago0 comments

> This is a business plan.

It is, but not because they have a plan beyond it, though.

Cox/Time-Warner/etc. basically shook down Google for money a couple of years ago. Google backed down and the last-mile ISPs thought they won.

So, even if the ISP's upgrade or get really cheap, Google doesn't care. This is about making sure that no company ever has the ability to cut off Google's flow of ads to the consumer ever again.

Google will roll out fiber even if it's somewhat unprofitable just to slowly squeeze the ISP's into obeisance.

0 comments

aquadrop11y ago

mahyarm11y ago

I think as far as last mile costs goes, 100mbit or 1gbit, it isn't much different in price. It's running the wire in the first place.

And 1gbit is impressive like gmail was. It blows everyone out of the water because their competitors stagnated.

hkmurakami11y ago

Think about this in terms of a startup vs incumbent problem. The newcomer often needs to be 10x better than the incumbent in order to change the customer's habits.

Fiber is just that.

mkr-hn11y ago

I learned a new word today.

daniel-cussen11y ago

Yeah me too.

obeisance: noun: deferential respect.

Jgrubb11y ago

He, me three. I thought they mistyped obedience.

1 more reply

bsderOP11y ago

Glad to provide a valuable public service. :)

diminoten11y ago