Google’s Fiber Optic Initiative?
Yep, that is the title of this post. Some of us may be more familiar with this term, fiber optic, perhaps from gaming or just being a science whiz! The term more or less is a highly flexible and transparent fiber made of glass close to the size of a strand of hair. This fiber functions as a means of connecting two ends together like a wave length. Without getting into all this scientific and technical jargon, in relation to communication, fiber optic cables enables the transmission of data over longer distances at a faster rate than any other means of communication. In other words, you get super fast connection speeds!
Here in this BBC article, Google has selected Kansas City in the United States of America for their Fiber Optic Initiative. This business opportunity consists of installing fiber optic internet service throughout the entire city! This will enable internet speeds of one gigabit-per-second! In case some of you aren’t able to grasp the magnitude of such an installment, think of internet speed 100 times faster than what most of us have! Yeah, I know, WOW! Here’s the BBC short video on this matter.
Just think about it! Download and upload speeds will be lightning fast! At this point, I don’t believe citizens of Kansas City are able to comprehend how fast fiber optic fast is! Simply because they and we or I have yet to experience this type of luxury internet service! When watching videos online such as the short clip I posted, you wouldn’t even have to WAIT for it to buffer like what you are most likely doing at this point! Streaming speeds will be instantaneous! Skype sessions will be so smooth users will be bewildered! Webpage loading will literally be a mouse click away!
From a business standpoint, video conferencing will be in high definition non-stop streaming! Database management will be operating at phenomenal rates! The transfer of large data files will be take less time! This will ultimately change the digitally-reliant industries such as MRI/Hologram scans used in the Medical industry or even photograph in the photographic industries!
This initiative is no doubt the first step in the advancement of America’s telecommunication infrastructure! However, though every individual’s lives will be significantly impacted by such a drastic change, Kansas City is essentially the guinea pig of the future of fiber optic communication! On a slightly negative note, the global trend has been a shift from internet browsing from a desktop computer to more mobile devices such as a laptop or smartphone. The new infrastructure could work and continue to generate hype over internet browsing with a cable connected to a computer thereby, establishing a market leader position in Kansas City. On the other hand, it could fail terribly as consumers continue to resort to mobile devices that utilize wifi for data and consequently, be the face of a futile attempt in internet history!
Regardless, Google’s planning on launching the residential service in 2012 as they have begun hanging fiber optic wires in selected neighbors in Kansas City. The success of such a breakthrough initiative is still in its infancy stages and yet to be determined!
