Google wants a faster internet

Last summer, Google provided new resources for web developers to deliver faster content. More info on this initiative can be found on Read Write Web.

From Internet protocols to the browser to website development. When the Web is faster, the apps are faster; those idealist Googlers seem to think we should be browsing through pages, running complex apps, viewing enormous images, and streaming HD movies without delays or lag time of any kind.

Google's main concerns are related to updating protocols such as TCP/IP and HTML, improving browser performance to keep up with JavaScript development, creating more responsive apps and better-optimized pages, and ensuring better broadband access for more people.

Google has always advocated a faster internet via more developed broadband networks throughout the United States, but apparently providing resources to developers is't enough. After making headway with initiatives on the development side of content provision, Google now turns to service provision. Today Google announced a new ISP initiatives of its own on the Official Google Blog.

We're planning to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States. We'll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.

Our goal is to experiment with new ways to help make Internet access better and faster for everyone. Here are some specific things that we have in mind:

* Next generation apps: We want to see what developers and users can do with ultra high-speeds, whether it's creating new bandwidth-intensive "killer apps" and services, or other uses we can't yet imagine.
* New deployment techniques: We'll test new ways to build fiber networks, and to help inform and support deployments elsewhere, we'll share key lessons learned with the world.
* Openness and choice: We'll operate an "open access" network, giving users the choice of multiple service providers. And consistent with our past advocacy, we'll manage our network in an open, non-discriminatory and transparent way.

Google provides so many services: search, gmail, blogger, youtube, chrome, etc., and as the content of these services increase, their utility is only as good as the networks they run on. Privacy advocates, however, may have problems with this new direction for Google. As suggested on Mashable.com, if Google becomes our internet service provider, not only will it know what we do on Google services, but it will know what we do and where we go whenever we use the internet.

If it’s successful, Google will not only know what we do on its plethora of services, but also just about everything else we do on the web (especially if Google becomes our ISP). Now, perhaps more than ever, the question of whether or not that’s too much power for one company to have is at the forefront.

Google's initiative to delivering speeds more than 100x faster than typical U.S. Internet connections appears to be in our best interests. As a side note, the U.S. has lagged other countries in internet connection speeds and recent studies show internet speeds in the U.S. have declined.