Google Fiber and Creating the Next Generation ISP

With its plans to bring gigabit broadband to Kansas City, Kansas, Google is changing the fate of that city, but it’s also setting out to build a new generation of Internet Service Provider, one designed for the type of world where connectivity drives innovation, and is an irrefutable aspect of our lives.

Milo Medin, the head of Google’s fiber efforts, explained his goal is nothing short of causing a revolution — a revolution that may spread to other towns. “As I said, we’re still having conversations with other markets, and will try to build out in other areas in [Kansas City],” Medin said. So maybe Austin, Texas — which was passed over — shouldn't lose hope yet? When he formed the company that became Excite@home Medin helped take the web from dial-up speeds to speeds of 4 Mbps to 5 Mbps, and he draws a similar parallel between his efforts there and what Google is trying to do. “It’s a little bit like first days of @home, when the web was all optimized for dial-up, and no one had always-on connections,” he said. “Back then, people asked why would we need that, but the need for bandwidth seems to be insatiable … and there are business like Netflix that exist today because of it.”