The whole reason Google is developing Fiber? They want everyone in the US to have a fat pipe so they can deliver services / advertising over it. They cherry-picked a few markets where overbuilding is potentially profitable and post stories about it all over Google News. That puts pressure on ISPs to deliver a better product, because honestly customers didn't see a need for gigabit pipes before. They still don't really, but Google tells them they need it so people think they do.
Google will never expand Fiber to the entire country, and I'd be surprised if they don't sell the infrastructure to another company in 5-10 years once they've achieved their goals. If the ISPs are providing better service, customers can upload more personal / sensor data to the cloud for Google to mine, and Google can cram more ad-laden services down the pipes. It's a win/win for them.
This whole endeavor is about Google flexing its muscles as a media power player to ensure their content/ads aren't held for ransom by any ISPs. Any company can try to build a national fiber network; but it takes Google (and their army of media contacts thanks to Google News) to talk this much about what amounts to a minuscule infrastructure investment (~$150 million over 5 years - or about what Comcast spends on infrastructure in a week).
Google will never expand Fiber to the entire country, and I'd be surprised if they don't sell the infrastructure to another company in 5-10 years once they've achieved their goals. If the ISPs are providing better service, customers can upload more personal / sensor data to the cloud for Google to mine, and Google can cram more ad-laden services down the pipes. It's a win/win for them.
This whole endeavor is about Google flexing its muscles as a media power player to ensure their content/ads aren't held for ransom by any ISPs. Any company can try to build a national fiber network; but it takes Google (and their army of media contacts thanks to Google News) to talk this much about what amounts to a minuscule infrastructure investment (~$150 million over 5 years - or about what Comcast spends on infrastructure in a week).