Comment (30)Google is casting a wide net when it comes to future wireless offerings.
A report from The Information stating that the search firm might become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the US has plenty speculating on Google's wireless future. The report suggests that Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) could hook up with Verizon Wireless to resell wireless services in its Google Fiber cities. (See Google Fiber Shifts Into High Gear.)
This, of course, throws up questions about how other major US carriers -- AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), for instance -- would react if Google used Verizon for an MVNO. Google has had huge success getting Android-powered mobile Internet devices on to the market by taking a largely open-source, carrier-neutral approach so far.
However, Google's job ads certainly do suggest that it is further exploring and expanding the ways it uses wireless, particularly in the Google Fiber cities. For instance, it is searching for a WiFi operations engineer who would work "on Google Fiber hot-zones, Google Wi-Fi in commercial stores, and other public or private wireless installations."
Google is also looking for a technical program manager in the Google for Wireless Access team. That position calls for knowledge of LTE, WiFi, cellular, and Google apps. Google wants a wireless access person to work on multiple concurrent projects. "You will be responsible for identifying opportunities and driving the progress of various initiatives that will impact how people access Internet across the globe," the ad copy states.
And don't think that Google's ambitious plan to blanket underserved communities around the world with Internet from orbiting balloons is on the back burner, either. A recent job posting suggests that Google could be examining eventually using 4G connectivity for such a service.
The ad calls for an "RF Engineer" who can write TDMA and/or LTE software and "develop system software for large internet network delivered via high altitude balloons." Google says that the test ballons operate at 3G speeds in the 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz public spectrum bands used for WiFi and more. (See Broadband: It's All Hot Air for Google.)
— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading
