In 2010, Google topped the $60 billion broadband industry by announcing plans to expand fiber-based home internet service, giving connections up to a gigabit per second — 100 times rapid than average speeds at the time. In the Big Bang disruption model, where innovations take off quickly when markets are ready for them, unfortunately, Google Fiber could be seen as a failed early market experiment in gigabit internet access. The company’s goal was never to discharge the disrupter itself ao much as to encourage incumbent broadband providers and to help Google’s expansion in markets such as video and emerging markets including smart homes.
Seen through that lens, Google Fiber succeeded recklessly. It stimulated the incumbents to increase their own infrastructure investments by several years. New applications, as well as new industries, emerged, added up with virtual reality and the Internet of Things, proving the viability of an “if you build it, they will come” approach for gigabit services.
The story of Google Fiber gives valuable lessons for future network transformations, greatly the on-going global race to deploy next-generation 5G mobile networks. In 2009, Congress charged the Federal Communications Commission with the new development of a National Broadband Plan (NBP). The plan set threatening targets for expanding high-speed broadband service throughout the U.S., continuing to rely almost entirely on private investment. The overall goal of Google Fibre is to ensure at least 100,000,000 Americans had access to broadband speeds of 100 Mbps by 2020.
