Symantec's CEO has a few ideas for Google's new fiber network
Google’s working on a gigabit network in Kansas City (in Kansas and Missouri), but what do we need all that bandwidth for anyway? Symantec CEO Enrique Salem has some ideas. Here are a few he put forth in a recent interview with the Kansas City IT Professionals (KCITP) organization.
1. A place where everybody knows your name
Invoking the once-popular sitcom Cheers, Salem noted that greater bandwidth could enable applications that allow a business to recognize consumers when they walk in the door and offer personalized service. For example, imagine entering a hotel and instantly having that hotel know your status as a guest, where your room is, and how you’re paying for your reservation. Geographic awareness combined with instant communication would require a lot of connected parts, and, as a result, a lot of bandwidth.
2. New ways of organizing data
We’re producing a lot of data, and we’re producing it fast. According to Salem, data volumes are rising more than 60% every year, and we need new ways to sort and filter it. That’s an opportunity in the making, but only if we have the infrastructure to support massive computational processing and data transfer. A gigabit network is a good start.
3. Privacy and security
The more we connect everything together, the more we need to pay attention to the privacy implications. On the back of new personalization services and big data applications, big bandwidth will have to support a new class of security technologies. Salem believes security, privacy and reputation management will all be big business in the gigabit future.
From a broader perspective, Salem is betting that Google’s new fiber network will draw a lot of start-ups to the Kansas City area. If so, they should think about setting up shop soon. Google says it's making good progress, and that its fiber rollout is now in "full swing".
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Photo: Google Fiber Blog
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