Google Wireless And The End of The Telephone

If you've been following the technology news cycle, Google announced their intention to bid on the new 700mhz spectrum opened up from the closure of old TV airwaves. As part of this bid Google also announced it will create a totally open, neutral network that anyone can use with with any compatible wireless device.

This move was a total salvo at the Telco's, and their fate sealed in one blow. So in order to save their companies from oblivion and obsolescence, they had no choice but to open their networks too. It only took a few days... Verizon, then AT&T have opened their networks this week.

This is huge.

First, the 700mhz spectrum allows for very high bandwidth, at least 100mb/s to start. Secondly, it has long range, at least 30 miles. Combine this with Google's long-going and continuing acquisition of "dark fiber" and Google has the ability to offer nationwide, high-bandwidth, wireless access to anyone with any conceivable device. With new services like Googol's gTalk along with their gphone is only the beginning. Combine this new ubiquitous, wireless reality with movements like Open Social and OpenID, and within about 10 years, possibly even 5, there is no longer any need for telephone numbers, email addresses, and seperate webspace identities (facebook, myspace, etc.). You simply are who you say you are wherever you go as you intereact in the digital ecosphere. As you interact with people and organizations through your user-defined openID they in turn do the same with you. If someone wants to contact you, rather than "call" using a telephone number they simply contact you from their contact list. This "contact" could be voice, visual, text, multimedia, file exchange, data exchange, fax, document, anything.

The nice thing about OpenID is you control what people know about you - everything from total anonymonity to transparency based on user defined trust and reputation networks. Of course, the move away from traditional telephones is not going to happen overnight, and there will remain millions of phones with traditional numbers for a long time, but for everyone else who has something like openID and a contemporary internet connection, contacting these people is as easy as still entering the number or pulling them up in your contact list, and in their case, it would say 'voice only', or something like that.

It's a compelling vision and one that companies like Google are spearheading. Whether they have longer term, more nefarious intentions remains to be seen, but in the meantime this competition is good for us.