Pretty cool business model:
http://www.kansascity.com/2012/07/26...-plans-on.html
So no matter how badly the corner geek wants Internet speeds of one gigabit-per-second — 100 times faster than most broadband hook-ups — he won’t be able to get it unless about 10 percent of his neighbors also register for a Google hook-up.
Time Warner Cable became the principal television-subscription company in the market decades ago. It did so under a franchise agreement that gave it a virtual monopoly to sell cable TV, in part for a pledge to offer the service to nearly every home.
Since then, a deregulation of the industry has allowed other companies to sell hard-wired TV services in neighborhoods where old franchise holders such as Time Warner already offer services.
Such so-called overbuilders — Google now joins AT&T’s U-verse service and SureWest Communications among them — have certain disadvantages. They don’t just have to convince people to buy their services. They must also convince consumers to go through the hassle, and often installation expense, of switching from the incumbent cable provider.
But they also have some key advantages. For instance, they need only offer service where they see a profit. Outfits like Time Warner and Comcast Corp., on the other hand, were obligated by their franchise agreements to reach nearly every neighborhood — including those that pose geographic challenges or poorer areas where a significant percentage of residents are less likely to buy the most profitable subscriptions.
In that respect, there’s a certain savvy to Google’s rollout strategy. By only going into neighborhoods where enough consumers prove they’ll pay, the company builds in great efficiencies to building the network. No need to dispatch crews and rip up asphalt in pursuit of a handful of potential customers when Google can laser in on the most eager concentrations of subscribers