In a recent blog post titled "Google's Cables Make Unnecessary Waves," The New York Times' Miguel Helft makes the case that news of Google's involvement in laying new cable across the Pacific Ocean is no big deal.
"But my sources told me that Google has long considered becoming part owner of undersea cables, not as part of some new telecom venture, but rather because it needs the bandwidth to move massive amounts of digital information between its data centers around the world. The company already leases capacity in underwater cables, and owning some of the cables outright might prove cheaper than paying rents."First off, Google isn't trying to start a "new telecom venture," they already have one. Google is currently using their own routers and dark fiber to send their data across the country, which is what a telecom does. Google is cutting out the cost of using other middlemen (other telecoms). Telecoms also own fiber and routers and make money by charging companies like Google to use their hardware. If Helft is talking about Google becoming an ISP, then yes, this news isn't of much interest. But if we're talking about Google expanding its ownership of the hardware backbone that is the Internet, then it is big news. A basic understanding of how the Internet works and what the definition of telecom is could have helped Helft out. His sources tipped him in the right direction, but he failed to connect the dots.
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