How Much Will Google’s Fiber Network Cost?

The idea behind the network: provide bandwidth and see if it fosters new user behavior and thus innovations. I admire Google for creating a real-life laboratory that will provide intelligence to predict not only the future of the web, but also help it develop new products to stay relevant. By announcing this network, Google also showed why it’s quite distinct from its onetime peers such as Yahoo and AOL.

When I said that Google’s plan was audacious, I said so because of the cost. For starters, Google wants to offer 1 gigabit-per-second speeds to some 50,000 to 500,000 people. At 2.6 people per household, that roughly translates to between 20,000 and 200,000 homes. Our friend Ben Schachter, Internet analyst with Broadpoint AmTech, estimates that it will cost Google between $3,000 and $8,000 per home, or roughly $60 million to $1.6 billion, depending upon the final size and footprint of the network. If Google reaches, say, 100,000 homes, it would cost the company about half a billion dollars.

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One comment on “How Much Will Google’s Fiber Network Cost?

  1. LeslieJ says:

    It’s not easy to start a business without enough capital.Of course one should be very careful in assessing his/her money to be used in the business.I know that Google fiber network will cost a lot because it will be of great help to the people.Almost every thing is being researched in the internet and it brings about a lot of help.The people behind this project should make sure that they already established a good plan for having the best financial tips to budget the money.Everyone can use some financial tips (maybe Warren Buffet or Bill Gates don’t), but some good financial tips.They just need to use the best plan to start things right.