• LA Times, Wednesday, February 10, 2010 2:49 PM

Potentially pitting itself directly against the cable and telephone companies, Google is getting into the broadband business with the deployment of a fiber-optic network to at least 50,000 homes and as many as 500,000. The search giant guarantees that its new network will deliver faster Internet speed (up to 100 times faster) at a competitive price. Google isn't saying how much the "experiment" is likely to cost.

In 2006, Google began operating its own wireless network in Mountain View, Calif., where it is headquartered. Two years later, it bid unsuccessfully for wireless spectrum in auctions held by the Federal Communications Commission. Not long ago, the FCC began exploring the feasibility of a national broadband policy.

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