Google’s parent company Alphabet has stated it is ready with a new technology that makes beaming high-speed Internet into people’s homes more feasible than laying fiber-optic cables.
“There appear to be wireless solutions that are point-to-point and inexpensive now because of the improvements in semiconductors,” said Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. “These point-to-point solutions are now cheaper than digging up your garden and so forth.”
The technology will first arrive in Kansas City with the aim of setting up of at least a test network by the end of the year or early next. Schmidt also assured the wireless network will be just as efficient compared to Google Fiber, with a bandwidth of 1 gigabit per second under projection as of now. Several wireless technologies will be tested and will require users to have special devices installed at their home to receive the signals.
Google already delivers high-speed Internet service in several cities via its Google Fiber program. Kansas City is also the first city where Google had launched its fiber optic cable based internet service about four years ago. However, the new wireless network will be less complex to implement and requires less investment in elaborate hardware, claimed Schmidt.
See Also: Google Fiber scraps Free basic tier, Replacing with $50 Fiber 100 in Kansas City
Google also has obvious reasons to dole out internet services for the masses as getting more people online is a way of drawing more people to use its services.
Schmidt also said during the annual meeting of shareholders that he has had elaborate discussions on this with Alphabet Chief Executive Larry Page and Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat, which again should be a good indication of the seriousness of the project.
Other technologies Alphabet will be exploring in future include plant-based imitation meat and 3D printed buildings while the company’s current focus areas of virtual reality and artificial intelligence will continue to see more intense activity in the coming years.
