http://apnews.myway.com/article/20051002/D8CVIHNG0.html
Google Bids to Provide WiFi in San Fran
Oct 1, 8:24 PM (ET)
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
(AP) Google Inc. chief executive Eric Schmidt applauds during a news
conference in Mountain View,...
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Google Inc. (GOOG) wants to connect all of San
Francisco to the Internet with a free wireless service, creating a
springboard for the online search engine leader to leap into the
telecommunications industry.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company filed an application late
Friday to provide wireless, or "WiFi," service that would enable
anyone in San Francisco to connect to the Internet.
Google submitted its 100-page bid in response to a request from Mayor
Gavin Newsom, who is looking for a company to finance a free wireless
network to lower the financial barriers to Internet access in his city.
More than a dozen other bidders are competing with Google.
If Google is picked for the San Francisco project, it would provide a
testing ground for a national WiFi service - something that many
industry observers believe the company is pondering as a way to
ensure people can connect to its search engine anytime, from just
about anywhere.
"It makes sense for Google," said Chris Winfield, who runs a search
engine marketing firm, 10e20. "They say their mission is to organize
the world's information, so the logical next step is to provide the
access to it."
Google spokesman Nate Tyler said Saturday that the company doesn't
have any plans to offer a WiFi service outside the San Francisco Bay
area.
"Unwiring San Francisco is a way for Google to support our local Bay
Area community," Tyler said. "It is also an opportunity to make San
Francisco a test-ground for new location-based applications and
services that enable people to find relevant information exactly when
and where they need it."
Google has been quietly experimenting with WiFi service in a few
connection spots around the Bay Area and New York during the past few
months. In another sign of its interest in Internet access, Google
recently bought an undisclosed stake in a Maryland startup, the
Current Communications Group, which is trying to provide high-speed
connections through power lines.
If it wants, Google has both the financial clout and the incentive to
get into WiFi. What remains unclear is whether the company has the
telecommunications expertise to build and maintain a WiFi service.
The company has nearly $7.1 billion in cash, having just raised $4.17
billion in stock offering completed last month. That stock sale
prompted several industry analysts to conclude Google might be
preparing to build its own high-speed Internet network.
Offering free WiFi service could pay off for Google if the greater
access gives the company more opportunities to field search requests
and ultimately serve up more advertising - the vehicle that provides
virtually all of its profits.
Building its own wireless Internet network connection also would help
Google save money by reducing the fees that it pays to the
telecommunications middlemen that provide a bridge between the
company's data centers and Internet service providers whenever Web
surfers make a search request.
Any free Internet access service would threaten to siphon revenue
from subscription Internet service providers like SBC Communications
Inc. (SBC) and Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) that have invested heavily in
high-speed connections that depend on phone lines and cable modems.
A Google WiFi service also could divert traffic from many popular Web
sites, including Yahoo, MSN and AOL, if it's set up to automatically
make Google's home page the first stopping point.
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