Google Inc. (GOOG) Files for FCC Wireless Network License

There has been some chatter for a few days that this was happening, but Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) apparently is making it official that it is due to experiment with a wireless network that could work in high-density urban areas – which seems to fit with the recent announcement that Google would be providing a wi-fi network in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has filed for a license with the Federal Communications Commission to use some bandwidth for a wireless network that is is slated to run in the vicinity of the company’s Mountain View, Calif.-based headquarters. While there is some speculation that Google may be looking to launch a mobile data service, the license request lists “experimental radio service” as the reason for the license. Details outside of that are very few, as some of the details on the requst form has the word “confidential.”

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)Google Inc. (NADAQ:GOOG) is requesting bandwidth at high frequencies, around 2,525-2,545 megahertz, which is a frequency that no current smartphone device supports in the U.S., but it is a spectrum that will soon be supported in places like China, Japan and Brazil, which are currently building out networks to support that spectrum that seems to work in densely-populated areas.

“We don’t know yet exactly what Google is testing here,” wrote consulting engineer Steve Crowley in a blog. “It might be devices it created. I suspect, though, that this is a test of a network architecture or service, using existing equipment.”

While there certainly is a mystery here, it certainly seems that this might be the next step for Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) – it is running its fiber-optic Google Fiber network in Kansas City, which boasts lightning-quick 1 gigabyte-per-second speed, along with the free wi-fi in Chelsea. Google has been all about speed and effectiveness, and certainly having good wireless connectivity in a dense urban area has been a challenge.

Give us your thoughts about this story, and whether you think Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is taking the next natural step, or getting over its head and spreading itself thin. Share us your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.

DISCLOSURE: I own no positions in any stock mentioned.

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