Google Fires High Speed Broadband Bullet

A few short minutes ago, we ran a speed test on our Internet connection.

And this is what we hit:

Downstream: 21.04 Mbps
Upstream: 3.83 Mbps

Good enough for the purposes of blogging, watching YouTube videos and streaming the occasional Netflix movie via our Roku box.

Now picture this: Google announced on its blog today that it plans to offer ultra-fast broadband connection of 1 Gbps, fiber to the home connection in the U.S.

Yes, kiddo, you read right. That is 1 Gbps and that too at a competitive price (sorry, no details on pricing yet).

That’s about 50 times faster than our already-fast connection and a gazillion times faster than the woe begone souls on DSL or, God forbid, dial-up.

Will such high speeds make a difference to the average Nishika, Mythili, Chandrasekhar or Somasekhar, blogging from the basement or playing YouTube videos?

Probably not because there are really no consumer applications that demand such speed.

And Google seemed to acknowledge that very point:

We want to see what developers and users can do with ultra high-speeds, whether it’s creating new bandwidth-intensive “killer apps” and services, or other uses we can’t yet imagine.

In the blog post, Google mentioned 3D medical imagery and 3D videos of collaborative university lectures as examples of applications that could benefit from such high speeds.

Now before y’all schmucks get excited and start wanking off at the thought of Internet on steroids, remember this is a test and will not be available across the U.S.

Google said it plans to offer the ultra-fast service ‘to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.’

Google said starting today and until March 26 it’ll ask interested municipalities to provide it with information about their communities through a Request for information (RFI), which will form the basis for where the company builds the ultra-fast network.

What Lies Ahead
As TV screen sizes get bigger and Internet access speeds get faster, we envision a future where movie studios will directly release new films to consumers via high-speed connections.

The theater experience is often shitty with rude employees, overpriced tickets, extortionist-priced popcorn and soda and stinking halls.

Watch this space.

7 Responses to "Google Fires High Speed Broadband Bullet"

  1. praveen   February 10, 2010 at 11:25 pm

    hmmm,
    GoogleBroadband.com is registered in 2004. Did they have this business plan in 2004 itself or they bought this domain from someone else.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Google must have had this domain earlier.

    Even if someone else had acquired this domain first, they would’ve been compelled to relinquish it to Google because of trademark issues.

  2. vjcool   February 11, 2010 at 1:04 am

    off topic: do you visit http://www.onion.com one good satire news site, very good videos and news satire.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    We used to read the hard copy (would pick up the free broadsheet copy when we used to visit NYC) but haven’t read it lately i.e. until we read the WalMart piece a few minutes back online. It is true that WalMart has a dirty record with workers: cheating them of overtime, paying low wages, denying healthcare. Sick company.

  3. logu   February 11, 2010 at 3:52 am

    that’s absolutely great!!!!! is it available in your area?

    these schmucks from BSNL and other DSLs should should learn atleast a bit from google

    when you’re blogging with a speed of 21.4 Mbps I’m commenting at 0.23Mbps(256Kbps)

    Pathetic BSNL.. that too at Rs. 850…

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    1. You write above: that’s absolutely great!!!!! is it available in your area?

    No, Google has just put out the announcement. Will take a while.

    2. DSL is slowly fading out here…mostly cable, fiber-optic (like Verizon FiOS) or wireless broadband like Clear, Sprint et al.

    3. You write: Pathetic BSNL.. that too at Rs. 850…

    New customers can get 10 Mbps for $20 (i.e. Rs 900) a month here during special promotions.

  4. satya   February 11, 2010 at 11:42 am

    this should be much better !!

    http://www.google.com/tisp/

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    And you expect us to believe the above shit?

    Ha ha ha. Our name is not Abhishek Bachchan. 😉

    • shadowfax_arbit   February 12, 2010 at 3:26 am

      Ha I knew this…

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrontojPWEE

      SearchIndia.com Responds:

      In the above video, we like the Indian style buffet flashing on the screen in the toilet….most Indian buffets in the U.S. are ‘crappy.’ 😉

  5. kd36939   February 11, 2010 at 3:24 pm

    desi’s will get on to downloading spree if its made available to all.

    google surprises us with innovative things like these and disappoints with products like buzz.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You write: google surprises us with innovative things like these and disappoints with products like buzz.

    It’s going to be very, very hard for Google to make headway against Facebook on the social media/networking front.

    • shadowfax_arbit   February 12, 2010 at 3:25 am

      Buzz is zzzzz – they have attempted something like Twitter…

      SearchIndia.com Responds:

      Search is a hard act to follow for Google.

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