Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Networking

    Google to Build Wireless Networks Abroad, Expand Ad Empire: Report

    By
    Michelle Maisto
    -
    May 28, 2013
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Nokia has talked about getting the next billion people online, but it’s Google that’s planning to build the networks.

      Google is “deep into a multi-pronged effort” to build and run wireless networks in emerging markets such as sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, according to a May 24 report from The Wall Street Journal.

      Google plans to team up with telecommunications providers in various markets to develop local networks, as well as to create business models to support them, said the report.

      Google would use spectrum currently reserved for television broadcasting, if government regulations allowed, though it would also consider creating a satellite-based network, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with Google’s plans.

      One considered idea, which would involve spectrum other than that for television, is to use blimps as “high-altitude platforms” on which to transmit signals across hundreds of square miles, said the report.

      Google has been experimenting with offering broadband services in

      the U.S. market. It initially launched Google Fiber in Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Mo., in the fall of 2012, and in April announced that Fiber will expand to Austin, Texas, in 2014.

      In January, it also expanded its WiFi network beyond its Manhattan headquarters to include the entire neighborhood of Chelsea. The free network is now available to more than 2,000 residents of a nearby public housing project, as well as more than 5,000 students.

      “Communities that are connected to the Internet grow stronger because there’s greater potential to create jobs, drive economic growth and help businesses succeed,” Milo Medin, vice president of Google Fiber, said in an April 9 blog post announcing Google’s Austin plans. “We believe the Internet’s next chapter will be built on gigabit speeds, and we hope this new Google Fiber city will inspire communities across America to think about what ultra-fast connectivity could mean for them.”

      Bringing the Internet to developing markets would no doubt help countless communities grow, while also advancing Google’s causes. Google now sells smartphones and tablets, and owns Android, the most popular mobile operating system in the world. But its most lucrative business—accounting for nearly 90 percent of its $50 billion in annual revenue—is mobile ads. And with the Internet in more places, Google could sell more ads.

      With its own network, Google could also learn more about user behavior, enabling it to “create more personalized services and target individuals with more relevant advertising,” reported the Journal, citing former Google engineering executive Narayanan Shivakumar.

      “By profiting from data it gleans from how people use a network it operates,” the report continued, “Google could build a business more cheaply than traditional carriers do today.”

      Google’s ambitions to be a vertical player, offering a network its current offerings can run on, has been a long-time initiative of CEO Larry Page, who for years has “spearheaded secret research on alternative methods to provide more people with Internet access,” said the report.

      The initiative has since grown more serious, it added, and been taken over by Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Google’s nonprofit business, Google.org.

      Google has declined to comment on the matter.

      Since 2011, Nokia has been talking about connecting the next 1 billion people to the Internet. Toward that purpose it has introduced its Asha line of smartphones, and in November 2012 it introduced the $42 clamshell Nokia 109. Nokia has also introduced a Nokia Ad Exchange (NAX) program for developers, which can deliver ads to more than 200 countries, and a Nokia Premium Developer Program (NPDP). The goal is a win-win situation is which users can get free apps, and developers and others make money through mobile advertising.

      NAX enables developers to glean information such as the country an app is being used in and the time of day the app is used.

      Michelle Maisto
      Michelle Maisto has been covering the enterprise mobility space for a decade, beginning with Knowledge Management, Field Force Automation and eCRM, and most recently as the editor-in-chief of Mobile Enterprise magazine. She earned an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University, and in her spare time obsesses about food. Her first book, The Gastronomy of Marriage, if forthcoming from Random House in September 2009.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×