Google Fiber Is World-Changing! Or Maybe Not. Or Both!

Some don’t know what to make of Google’s fiber moves. They have two big questions:

1. What is Google actually trying to do here?
2. How much is Google willing to spend on whatever they’re doing?

And there are multiple theories to answer those questions, which aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive:

• It’s a sandbox for Google. It’s literally trying to figure out what goes into offering that kind of speed, and what happens when customers take advantage of it.
• Google thinks that by offering blazing-fast fiber in a bunch of cities, it will spur the likes of Comcast, Time Warner Cable and other incumbents to up their own investments in speed. And that eventually means that more people will have faster Internet, which is presumably good for Google.
• Google really does plan on wiring a big swath of the country. Because, why not? It’s Google. It can afford just about anything.

Analysts again tried to suss out what Google was up to. Both CEO Larry Page and CFO Patrick Pichette did a good job of speaking at length and not saying very much, beyond the notion that it would be good if lots of people had fast Internet.