[bgruber]

their analysis of why Google is doing this in the first place:

"we believe Google Fiber has two related objectives: first, Google is seeking to figure out whether or not, or under what conditions, it can make money as a facilities-based provider of broadband and pay TV services; second, it is an opportunity for Google to test new applications, new ad formats and delivery models (e.g., targeted TV ads) and to get further insight into consumer behavior."

This completely misses what I believe to be the primary reason, which is raising the bar for internet access, regardless of who's providing it. Chrome started out similarly, though my impression is that Google does care about dominance for that now.

But the point is: if google fiber in 3 cities means comcast gets better in 1000, that's a win for google.

[JshWright]

>But the point is: if google fiber in 3 cities means comcast gets better in 1000, that's a win for google.

Unfortunately, what it means in practice is that Comcast will get better in exactly 3 cities.