Report: Google May Be Developing Some Kind Of Wireless Network
According to a FCC filing submitted on Monday and uncovered by Reuters, Google might be working on some kind of wireless network, offering sweet, sweet internet without giving all of your monies to AT&T.
What we know at the moment is that Google has applied to conduct tests in California across different wireless frequencies, including a little-used millimeter-wavelength frequency. That frequency is perfect for transmitting large amounts of data relatively short distances. According to Stephen Crowley, a wireless engineer, it would be perfect as a "wireless extension" of Google Fiber, either complementing the existing cables, or providing an alternative to running an internet connection all the way to people's homes.
Obviously, a Google cell network would almost certainly be a Seriously Good Thing. Google's fledgling Fiber network offers unlimited, speedy internet connection for a fraction of the price of the incumbents — and with any luck, the same would be true of a Google wireless network.
After all, Google's endgame with pretty much any kind of internet service isn't to make money through the service itself — rather, it's to get people doing more stuff online, specifically through Google services. That's the reason it's playing around with internet balloons, and offering cut-price fiber internet to cities.
Of course, this filing isn't proof that Google is planning a wireless network — far from it, in fact. After all, there's a bunch of other projects that Google is working on that could benefit from short-range, high-bandwidth transmissions: driverless cars, TV mirroring, or heck, some skunk-works project that we won't hear anything about until someone parachutes into a Google conference with it. [Reuters]
