Blogs

To recap from our most recent eblast: Google fiber is rumored to be coming to Charlotte.  At this point, “rumored” is not a great term because they have a website dedicated to the Charlotte deployment.

Why Google Fiber?

Many companies offer fiber-based internet speeds.  Time Warner Cable and recently acquired TW Telecom (now Level 3 Communications) have both offered this for years. However, the difference is in the pricing and marketing.

Assume we are using Time Warner as the competitor.

• Google will offer up to 100 Mbps for upload and download for $50 per month.
• Time Warner Cable has speeds of 50 Mbps down and 5 Mpbs up for $79 per month.

Google has a completely different mindset for the internet.  I can’t quote this verbatim, but the premise is that Google says the internet should be free to those who use it.  With this belief, Google will offer incredibly high-speed internet and high-reliability for a low cost of $50 to get you on the internet.  The basis of this loss leader type decision is that once you are on the internet at faster speeds and spend more time, then Google can deliver more ads and better specialized content.

Wouldn’t you do this? Offer a loss leader such as “get our free service for product A in order to get the potential business of products B-F”? I think this is the key to marketing and you see this all the time with weekly ads and sale items.

By offering you more specialized content and delivering ads to your internet browser they are giving their advertisers a way to reach their target audience. Sound familiar? Maybe like broadcast television?

Home or Business

Again, not speaking for Google directly but the plan seems to target residential and not commercial when they begin deployment. The costs for the residential are discussed directly on the site, not business. I suspect business fiber will be available, however this does not seem to be the projected entry point.

I NEED FASTER SPEEDS!!

The internet speed in the Charlotte metro area is well below the internet speed in other mid-size cities. Many areas have Fiber Optic Service or FiOS internet where we have seen speeds the same as Google for not much more in cost. The Charlotte area seems to be behind the times when it comes to internet speeds.

Going back to the original question.

Can Google Fiber save my business?

If the service becomes available for your business it is possible you can use this to help reduce some costs. You may also be able to have some of your key services, such as storage and applications, hosted offsite. The increase in speed may also help you use some cloud features that you do not have right now.

In my humble opinion, Google Fiber will not save your business but it might help you with some functions of your business.

You have to ask yourself “How visible do you want your business to be on the internet? What cloud services fit your business?” Ask IRIS Solutions to help you.