 Google
Wants To Be Ma Bell
Providing
wireless Internet looks like one potential for all the fiber Google
has bought, but maybe they want to be more than that.
It's Friday, always a day when writers everywhere
dig deep into the mire of probability, speculation, and silliness,
in order to find material and feed the ever-hungry audience on the
web. For those in the tech world, the Google Game has become a weekly
rite. Playing the game is easy - just follow what Google does and
project what they intend to do.
Today's version plays upon other theories regarding
Google and its acquisition of lots of unused 'dark fiber'. Om Malik
and others have theorized about the potential for Google delivering
ads, videos, maps, and other web content.
What if it's all about voice? Perhaps the vision
of a wireless broadband network operated out of Mountain View is
about VoIP instead of any of those services.
The announcement by Intrado of its V9-1-1 Mobility
Service looks like another piece of the puzzle needed to ensure
compliance with FCC 911 requirements. This component lets wireless
VoIP providers have customer access to the emergency network. Failings
in this area by Vonage and others have led to lawsuits and FCC involvement
in resolving the problem.
"(I)f you want to offer Internet telephone
service, you need to make sure your subscribers have access to the
dedicated wireline 9-1-1 network," Intrado cites William Stofega,
Research Manager with IDC's Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)
Services Program, in a statement. "For any wireless carrier
considering making the move into VoIP, solutions like Intrado's
are worth investigating."
That last statement should cause major wireless
carriers like Cingular, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile to
reach for the antacids. Why? Well, Google just doubled its cash
pile, and Intrado has been the focus of takeover rumors ever since
Roy Disney started complaining about the company's business and
compensation plans in July.
There's some sentiment among dissident Intrado investors
that the company is undervalued. By extending their 911 call routing
software to wireless VoIP uses, ensuring emergency calls can be
routed correctly, Intrado has made itself a much more attractive
target.
Google could pickup Intrado, set up a holding company
or outsource customer service and sales of wireless handsets, and
partner with a firm like LG to develop a Google branded device.
Those handsets could have access to Google applications embedded,
and deliver ads to users of those applications.
Its foray into print ads that include call-back
numbers shows Google may be ready to delve more deeply into the
pay-per-call advertising model. The geocoding used with Google Maps
would allow them to target ad sales all the way down to a single
street.
Google Talk is free. A Google Phone could be nominally
priced, with VoIP supported by advertising. Since Google would own
the network, by virtue of all that dark fiber it's purchased, its
costs to carry calls would be much less. Maybe it's time to take
another look at Google Mobile services; they appear to be ready
to take advantage of this proposal.
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