I just re-read this recent post from the Google Public Policy Blog, and I still think it’s a lot of pie-in-the-sky nonsense. It really feels as though whoever wrote it either doesn’t know enough about the subject or has dumbed it down for readers to the extent that it makes no sense. Although the example cited is apparently real, the model described is far more complicated than it at first seems, and the chances of it being implemented on any large scale are virtually zero.

When I first saw the headline, “What if you could own your broadband connection?” I assumed that it was going to be about Google’s plans for wireless services - a little late perhaps given that they failed to secure any licences in the 700MHz auction, but it would have been interesting as an academic exercise. But no, it turns out they’re talking about fiber connections:

It may sound strange, and it’s certainly not what we’re used to. Today we have a “carrier-centered” model; phone and cable companies spend billions to build, operate, and own the “last-mile” connection — the copper, cable, or fiber wires that come into your house. Individual consumers then pay for particular services, like phone service or Internet access.

In turn, we tend to think about broadband deployment in carrier-centric ways. If we want to see super-fast fiber connections rolled out to consumers, the main question appears to be whether carriers have appropriate incentives to invest.

But there’s no law of nature that says this is the only possible model. Many businesses, governments, universities, and other entities already own their own fiber connections, rather than leasing access to lines. It may also be possible to find ways for consumers to purchase their own last-mile strands of fiber.

Here, as anywhere, there would be certain advantages that come with ownership over renting. No one necessarily needs to own skis or a car, but many of us do. If you owned your own fiber, you’d be able to connect it to a service provider of your own choosing. Over time, you might save money, and it could make your house more valuable to have a fiber “tail.”

I think the examples used are disingenuous - fiber cables owned by businesses or universities are often for private networks, whereas the whole point of a broadband connection is connecting to the public Internet. Even where Internet access is “owned” by someone other than the carrier, that makes no sense until you put equipment at both ends which allows the cable to be more than just a piece of hardware. And you need a carrier willing to both connect to the business end and to provide you with the appropriate equipment at your end to make that cable work. And of course, the cable itself just connects you to the carrier, which still connects you to the Internet, so they still own the vital connection even if you own the piece of string between your place and theirs. You therefore have no more real ownership over the key piece of the puzzle than you do today.

Then there are all the technical issues involved with maintaining and fixing such a cable. Even if you can get a service provider to hook you up to the Internet, you still own the last mile, and would be responsible for fixing it if something went wrong. Your service goes out - how do you figure out where it’s broken? If it’s someone digging up the road, how do they know who to notify before they do so? And how do you exercise any authority over them to get them to fix it quickly? What if something else goes wrong? Who’s going to fix it for you? Certainly not the local service provider you’ve deliberately bypassed…

I could go on and on - only three commenters have bothered so far on the post itself, so it seems most people haven’t taken it too seriously. But this feels like another one of those occasions on which someone has over-simplified a complex situation in a way that says, “now why in the world do we do this the way we do? Look how easy it would be to do it differently - and better! More freedom! More control for customers!” and so on. It’s also a favorite tool of politicians selling quick fixes to intractable problems usually caused by other politicians…

Ironically, I think there’s a lot more potential for the kind of model the Google blogger is talking about in the wireless sphere. There, no cables are necessary so ownership is a non-issue. It really is about simply having the right hardware at your end and a provider willing to hook you up at the other. With multiple wireless providers being able to serve the same area without digging up the streets there’s potential for real competition with none of the hassles associated with a wired local access network. You’re still going to need a service provider to hook you up unless you’re willing to become an Internet node in your own right. But there is at least the potential for greater competition and more choices for consumers.

Google, of course, merely participated in the 700MHz to try to force the existing carriers to create this kind of model, backing out of the bidding themselves when they thought they’d achieved their aims (possibly erroneously). Perhaps if they’d stayed in they’d have been able to make this kind of model a reality.