Google has stated before it has no interest in becoming a provider of network services, but a job posting on its site solicits applications for Strategic Negotiators with “negotiation of dark fiber contracts” listed as part of the desired candidates’ experience.
There have been lengthy stories by telecom industry site Light Reading, thoughtful posts by writer Om Malik, and tales crafted by the notable pundit Robert X. Cringely about mobile datacenters and little hi-tech cubes to handle traffic from a Google network.
When Google noted it would have a speaker, Larry Page, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, many thought the Google Cubes or a related PC project was part of Page’s notes. Instead, the debut of Google Video and the software collection Google Pack emerged instead, to the collective yawns of the press.
No Google network, cubes, or anything hardware-related.
The Times Online UK has published its take on the story, citing “sources in commercial negotiation with the company” that claim Google is working on a global privately-held Internet. The job posts noted by the Times Online call for applicants versed in negotiating for dark fiber.
Dark fiber refers to the millions of miles of fiber-optic cables put in place throughout the US by Internet companies prior to the dot-com crash of 2000. No one has ever switched them on, hence their status as being “dark.”
Google has reportedly been buying up lots of this dark fiber, but a reason why hasn’t been forthcoming. Considering the continued calls from executives at AT&T, BellSouth, and Verizon for a two-tiered Internet, with providers like Google paying them higher prices to ensure the reliability of their traffic, the question isn’t will Google pay or not. It’s when will Google tell them their peering services are no longer required.
Wouldn’t we all like to know that?
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
