Google is spreading its wings in yet another direction – this time as a network provider, offering super-fast broadband to thousands of US homes. It plans to build a fibre-optic network offering speeds of up to 1Gbps (gigabit per second) to up to 500,000 homes.

It said it would compete on price with other broadband providers offering much slower speeds. Google said the trial was about promoting killer apps that would take advantage of fast speeds. “We planning to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States,” the search giant said in its blog.

“We plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people. We’ll deliver internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today,” it continued.

Growing Google
Google already has a fibre network which connects its data centres, speeds up search and lowers the cost of streaming video on YouTube. Now it plans to take this to the next stage and connect that network directly to consumers’ homes.

The network will be available for any service provider to use and Google is asking interested parties, from local government as well as members of the public, to sign up to the plan. The offer is part of Google’s expansion into controlling all aspects of a web user’s experience.

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