Google and its possible plans for ad-supported municipal wireless internet

Posted Apr 28th 2006 11:03AM by Brian White
Filed under: Rumors, Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, Google (GOOG)

Is Google trying to fulfill the prophecy of pundits from years back by finally trying to either cheaply sell or give away free or extremely cheap wireless internet (WiFi) in larger metro areas? With the recent announcement in San Francisco of a citywide wireless internet network (partnering with Earthlink), one has to wonder what Google's ambitions are in this space.

For one, if Google continues to enter markets to provide low cost or no cost options for whatever they are providing -- be it internet access, online calendaring or email or even satellite-mapping programs -- you can be sure they are going to monetize those efforts somehow. In my opinion, Google's ambition is to be the world's largest advertising company, by providing equal and cheap/free access to almost any kind of information from any device, anywhere. Watch out McDonalds and Coca-Cola.

Tags: Coca-Cola, Earthlink, Google, McDonalds