Google's entry in the cable business is starting to take off; first has been Kansas City, a Time Warner Cable (TWC) franchise and next may be Austin, another TWC franchise market. And to challenge TWC further, "AT&T says today that it, too, 'is prepared to build' a speedy 1 gigabit per second broadband system in Austin." Good for competition and good for the consumer to have choice.
While fiber is the backbone of connectivity, the rapid rise in mobility makes me wonder whether consumers need to have the last mile connection from pole to home? Can the cable operators, as well as Google and others be able to achieve their objectives without that last connection. As many of us have mobile devices that we use in or homes, laptops, tablets, and smartphones, and I would imagine a large number have their own wireless network off their broadband provider's fiber to the home, is there a simpler solution. By enabling wireless connectivity from the pole to the home, don't we assure a better wireless broadband experience. And perhaps create some cost efficiencies for the companies.
The fight for faster broadband connectivity is growing with the rise of larger bytes of content flowing and more consumers pushing the limits of the stream. As consumers find themselves frustrated by slow broadband connectivity from their existing provider, the rise of new entrants like Google and others with faster speeds may become attractive. A pre-emptive marketing campaign and capital investment in their own broadband infrastructure seems required by TWC to fend off these competitors.
