Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Chattanooga Rolls Out 1 Gbps Broadband

OK, I have to be the first to admit it. After all this talk about privatization, capitalism, and the ingenuity of profit-driven enterprise: government beats the private sector in the race to the 1 Gbps broadband. Google had everyone clamoring to get access to their ultra-fast broadband speeds with the launch of their Google Fiber for Communities initiative. And, it's not as though the demand has ended. But, the intriguing fact is that Google lost the race... or did they?

What was Google's ultimate goal in this initiative? To be the sole provider of a new break-through speed of broadband? I could hardly imagine that, nor could they. Of course, one goal has to be acknowledged as the shear PR traction they're getting. But, aside from that, the altruistic side of the corporate super-giant is clear: to create action. The initiative was designed to create demand--a general dissatisfaction with the status-quo--and thereby generate a new paradigm in broadband.

Guess what. They did. Chattanooga's announcement of their 1 Gbps broadband service, which will service a 600-square mile community and service ~170,000 homes, is a victory of Google's drive--not to mention the countless other voices crying for innovation. Google is not bemoaning this as a loss. If anything, they can at least cross one of the hundreds of cities off their list of candidates for their own implementation.

What we have seen in Chattanooga, we will begin to see everywhere. Accel Networks exists for the simple reason that we believe, along with countless others, that broadband doesn't have to stagnate. We can serve better, put customers first, and innovate the technology that drives our increasingly vital t-com important infrastructure. Whose next?

Labels: Broadband, Google, Google Fiber, Telecommunication