Google has made yet another technological foray by announcing a super fast broadband service capable of delivering bits and bytes at speeds 100 times faster than most Americans now get from their cable and telephone companies. However, other countries like India will have to wait, as no immediate plans of expansion have been announced. Google would create networks in a select number of American communities to deliver Internet service directly to homes at 1.0 gigabit per second, which would facilitate experimentation with applications that would allow exchange of 3-D videos and download of full-feature high-definition movies in five minutes. Currently, some of the fastest connections through cable, DSL, and fiber access cap at about 20 to 50 megabits a second.

Google refrained from positioning itself as a potential rival to internet providers. "We are not getting into the broadband business," says Rick Whitt, telecom and media counsel at Google, and adds, "This is a business-model nudge and an innovation nudge." Being a proponent of open-access policies, Google announced that its networks would give consumers a choice of multiple service providers and it would not favor its content over others.

Google has been experimenting with broadband service for years. It has been running a free Wi-Fi network in its headquarters city of Mountain View, California, and is also an advocate of the FCC initiative to use unlicensed wireless spectrum, called ‘white spaces’, for broadband services. And the company has been quietly buying up unused fiber-optic lines for years.

Google’s announcement comes close on the heels of the negative reviews that their social network undertaking ‘Buzz’ received and the release of its smartphone. What Google needs to watch out for is whether its new Internet initiative will lead to more frayed relations like the one with Apple or will it run the risk of spreading thin like Microsoft and AOL. Whatever the outcome, it is important that they stay focused on their core revenue offering, which is the search engine rather than burning their fingers in other areas.