Hi-Fi, Wi-Fi and Fi Wordplay

             Readers of a certain age probably know the full words to the acronyms in this blog edition.  Hi-Fi refers to high fidelity and the stereo receivers and amplifiers of the 1960s that reproduced music with greater frequency range.  Wi-Fi refers to wireless fidelity, possibly a stretched play on words using the Hi-Fi concept to cover wireless broadband access.  The mostly male, engineers that served on various 802.11 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers standards groups must have had a chuckle.

            Along comes Fi from Google: we move from high, to wireless to a new brand of wireless.

            Okay, some of us get the wordplay.

Google Wireless: This Could Get Big . . . Eventually

             It appears that Google soon will launch a lower cost, metered wireless service.  See http://www.wsj.com/articles/google-set-to-unveil-wireless-service-1429660082.  The company has made an impact in data transmission infrastructure with Google Fiber, albeit only in the 8 metropolitan areas it now serves.  See https://fiber.google.com/about/.  Google may repeat its success on a slow and incremental basis.

            Bear in mind that Google Fiber offers facilities-based broadband competition.  At least initially Google will package and resale bulk wireless bandwidth from TMobile and Sprint.  Additionally most consumers will have to acquire one of the few handset types compatible with the service.

            On the other hand, Google has the patience and deep pockets needed to see this project through.  Google is not the first venture to resale wireless, or to combine cellular and Wi-Fi access to the Internet.  However it has the buying power and tolerance for financial losses sufficient to allow the venture to acquire market share slowly.

            Should Google Wireless reach a critical mass, the impact will be huge.  Consumers’ expectations could change in terms of what a wireless service should offer and what it will cost.  Currently consumers have to commit to data plans that add significant blocks of capacity, but at rates considered quite expensive relative to global averages. U.S. carriers can tout low data rates only by spreading high monthly costs over similarly high data monthly allowances.  Had AT&T gotten government authorization to acquire TMobile, no carrier or reseller would have offered subscribers the opportunity to carry forward unused capacity into the next month. 

 

            Google Wireless will offer a metered, pay as you go a la carte opinion that appeals to cost-conscious consumers.  If Google gets traction, expect more sponsored data plans to become available, provided the FCC does not consider them a violation of network neutrality policies.