DocBug Exclusive — Google revolutionized the internet. Now it is hoping to do the same with inter-galactic communication.
The company behind the US-based internet search engine looks set to launch a service that turns unused bandwidth into a powerful signal generator capable of sending advertisements to the far reaches of space. Thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable laid during the boom of the late 90s now lies dormant, and this so-called dark fiber capacity is available at a price that industry experts say is ripe for being turned into a giant planet-sized billboard.
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Jules Hewlett, senior analyst at a company that talks to reporters about technology, said: “From an intergalactic advertising perspective there is a big appeal in the fact that Google is a search operation — and of course the Google brand is a huge draw.” We’re not sure what he means by this, but he’s very smart so we’ve quoted him anyway.
Though the project is hush-hush, Google spilled the beans about their new project by posting a job advertisement on their website that calls for a “strategic negotiator” to help the company to provide a “global backbone network” — in other words, an Earth-sized Light Bright.
By investing in capacity, Google could reroute packets to certain parts of the world, lighting up the dark fiber to spell out words or even full phrases that would be visible against the darkness of space for light-years.
Although Google is reluctant to talk about its plans, off the record people close to the company have called reports of the plan “mere speculation,” “baseless rumor” and in one case “the biggest load of malarky I’ve heard since The Times reported we were coming out with telephone service.”