Report: Google Building a Wireless Network in Secret

News
By Zak Islam
published

Up to 50 base stations to be utilized, as well as 200 "user devices".

Google is seemingly building a secret wireless network, with the search engine giant preparing to utilize up to 50 base stations.

The technology giant was originally interested in building a wireless network in partnership with Dish Network, but the latter has been attempting to purchase Clearwire.

Google now seems to be building its own wireless network after FCC filings were discovered by wireless engineer Steven Crowley. The company will utilize up to 50 base stations and 200 "user devices" during the experimental period in order create the network.

The wireless network itself will operate in two narrow segments of the 2.5GHz frequency band. Incidentally, the band is part of the spectrum owned by Clearwire.

Google's lawyers have requested to have parts of the FCC filing removed, with its argument being: "The information for which confidential treatment is sought concerns the highly competitive consumer electronics market."

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Zak Islam
11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • rpmrush
    Google going the wireless route instead of fiber in future cities????
    Reply
  • _Cosmin_
    On other sites they vehiculate that will be WIMAX with speeds up to Gigabit/s.
    At that speed makes no difference if is fiber or not.
    Reply
  • dauntekong
    Turn this into a mobile carrier base network and they'll have a world wide Google Carrier Service.

    Google Carrier+Android Phones

    What more can you ask.
    Reply
  • Star72
    Not much of a secret now I guess.
    Reply
  • thecolorblue
    dauntekongWhat more can you ask.to answer your question, less big brother... more privacy.
    a google that has names linked to every net activity is a very bad thing. if you don't understand why there are plenty of resources on the internet to help you understand the dangers of centralized databases on everything everyone does on the net.

    ...and just to pre-empt the inevitable "I have nothing to hide... yada yada". People probably fealt that way right before WWII. If you were Jewish in europe during that time then ypu would have had a lot to hide... basically any evidence of jewish culture in your life. Had Hitler had access to Google's server logs... you do the math. Care to predict what the next completely inocuous thing that will become the focus of arbitrary persecution? You should if you think it's a great idea for the google datamining operation to expand into full-text transcripts of every phone conversation, text message, photograph etc, that occurs on the google system.
    Reply
  • nino_z
    Sounds fine to me. No harm in it.
    Reply
  • wemakeourfuture
    Will Google index and store all web traffic through their networks and invade as much privacy as possible as with its Gmail and other free services?
    Reply
  • Onihikage
    I think they figured out that running fiber directly to homes will be more difficult and costly than attaching the fiber they already own to WIMAX devices and then selling that service with their Nexus devices and Chromebooks...
    Reply
  • evilsizer
    They also have Google Voice. If they can sell wireless internet access. I would be willing to drop my carrier for free phone and paid wireless. Granted, limited range, I hardly use the phone anyway for more than internet related things. Speaking on the phone: maybe 10 minutes a day, internet apps: at least 1.5 hours a day. $110 for 3 phones plus $30 min for internet of 2 gigs. Yeah, I would drop Verizon in a heart beat for a Google option.
    Reply
  • nitto555rchallenger
    I knew that INGRESS was a cover up for something even bigger in Google's playbook.
    Reply