Building the perfect Bellhead

[Commentary] No one is entirely sure what Google is up to with its announcement of trial plans for a 1 Gbps fiber-based, open access broadband service. We could speculate on how Google is trying to prove that open access works, or that traditional network operators are keeping customers from reaching their full speed potential, but there are plenty of other folks already debating those issues. It might be more fun to consider what most people believe to be the least likely scenario -- that the big Nethead really wants to be a Bellhead (phone company employee that typically believes in networks based on circuit switching as opposed to packet switching). Here's five reasons this outrageous line of thinking could be true:

1) Bellhead network technology: Google's focus on fiber rather than wireless proves that Google is trying to beat the Bellheads at their own game in urban residential and business settings. It's looking for speeds and consistency that wireless still isn't capable of providing.

2) Google is rumored to be considering buying the US operations of T-Mobile -- a deal that would put the company on par with AT&T and Verizon.

3) The transformation into a network operator may be easier than people think.

4) Google learned important lessons from earlier missteps -- Google Voice, the Nexus One phone and Google's early municipal WiFi strategy in partnership with EarthLink about how to properly roll out a telecom service (with Google Voice), how to respond to customer problems (with Nexus One) and how to get a buy-in from potential customers (consumers of WiFi) and customer-partners (municipalities want to provide WiFi).

5) Competitive advantages: In a Google broadband service scenario, a Google-owned fiber could lead into a household where a consumer uses an Internet-connected TV to search via Google for Internet-based videos, some of which they might even find at Google-owned YouTube. No Bellhead can match that.