This is big and potentially scary news, for a couple of reasons. The first is fairly obvious: If the reports of Google’s purchasing of “dark fiber” — unused bandwidth and network infrastructure — are true, the firm could conceivably roll out a “last-mile” Internet delivery service. Maintaining and operating all that infrastructure (along with servicing all those WiFi hubs) would be very expensive. But the idea makes more sense if you assume that the company will deploy its real capital once the new WiMax standard, which broadcasts wireless Internet over a much wider area than WiFi, rolls around. Coupling this with an upgraded version of Google Talk could conceivably make the tech startup a force in telecom
Google WiFi traffic is subject to their privacy policy, which everyone should be fully aware of.