Google sends FCC request to build “experimental radio network”

Google has requested FCC permission to build an “experimental radio network,” but is it worth getting hyped about?

Google has sent a to request to the FCC to build an “experimental radio network.” While this may seem like Google’s jump into the wireless space with the likes of AT&T and Verizon, don’t get your hopes up just yet.

The Wall Street Journal reports that an FCC application made by Google specifically requests permission to create a “experimental radio network” in a 2-mile radius surrounding its HQ in Mountain View, CA. The test network will run somewhere in the 2524MHz and 2625MHz spectrum, and is not only experimental in nature, but far from consumer-oriented. The spectrum being tested is inaccessible by almost all current consumer electronics, including iPhones and Android devices, meaning it will be years before you see gadgets use this.

However, what’s special about this band of spectrum is that it’s very effective with high-density locations, which makes it very efficient for rolling out wireless access in big cities, and potentially even a successor to current wireless standards. But Google actually doesn’t own the spectrum – Clearwire does, so the future of the technology is far from being in Google’s hands.

Google has been big on sharing internet with the world for some time. The company has offered free Wi-Fi not only in the area around its Mountain View HQ, but also around its New York office in Chelsea. It’s also worth mentioning that Google Fiber, another one of its “experiments,” is in the process of expanding all over the Kansas City area, and perhaps into more future cities. 

But don’t get your hopes up. Google experiments  a lot, and many of these experiments don’t make the cut – so many in fact there’s a Pinterest board dedicated to them. It may very well grow into something bigger, but for now it’s merely one of Google’s many experiments.