To continue using Om Malik’s phrase, the GoogleNet is back in the news. This story in the Times Online starts out with the following paragraph, and it’s a doozy:
Google is working on a project to create its own global internet protocol (IP) network, a private alternative to the internet controlled by the search giant, according to sources who are in commercial negotiation with the company.
So much of the piece seems like speculation and rehashing that I’m almost hesitant to post about it here. The story recaps Google’s efforts to buy dark fiber (first reported by Om) and Robert Cringely’s discussion of Google’s purchase of portable data centers. (What’s only sporadically mentioned is Google’s plan to build a national DWDM fiber network, a fact that I reported first in IP Media Monitor. The vendors who received Google’s RFP and the winner of the bid are hamstrung by confidentially requirements and are too afraid of upsetting Google by going public in any fashion, but still, this is a big deal).
The article goes even further, and perhaps into the territory of the highly skeptical, by suggesting that Google is also negotiating with content providers for material to be delivered to the “Google Cube,” the $100 PC that works like a TV, which Google is purportedly exploring.
A leading content provider, who did not wish to be named, told Times Online: “We are in discussions with Google to provide content for their alternative internet service, to be distributed through their Google Cube product. As far as I’m aware they have been conducting negotiations with a number of other players in our marketplace to provide quality content to their users.”
Cynthia Brumfield at 10:52 AM|Comments(0)
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