Will Google Become a Mobile Service Provider?

Though talks between Google and Dish Network about collaborating on a new Long Term Evolution network might not actually lead to something more concrete than preliminary talks, the way the possible venture could launch might have interesting ramifications.

First of all, all Google really wants is faster Internet access, and the potential partnership with Dish (and others, presumably) would spur continual development in that regard. That’s why Google seeds markets and firms such as municipal Wi-Fi, fiber to the home and Clearwire.

Rumors of a mid-2013 launch sound far too aggressive. The Federal Communications Commission has not yet formally approved Dish Network’s request to use its mobile satellite spectrum for a terrestrial LTE network, so it is almost totally inconceivable a national network could be launched that fast.

The interesting angle, though, would be the ability to create a sustainable revenue model based on mobile broadband access and video, not voice and messaging. Presumably Dish Network would want to launch a for-fee mobile video service using that network. That would mean the lead revenues are broadband access and video. And that, from Google’s standpoint, might sound familiar. It is what Google Fiber is doing in Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo.