According to a couple British newspapers, it could be a matter of time before the world's most poular search engine offers a telephony service. This speculation is based on an ad on Google's Web site for a "Strategic Negotiator, Global Infrastructure" who would be responsible to help with the "development of a global backbone network".
Google has moved into a variety of online services such as blogs (Blogger), comparative shopping engines (Froogle), social networking (Okrut) and e-mail (Gmail), so why not VOIP. All Google would have to do is offer Skype-like software that would sit on a browser toolbar. If Google wanted to buy network capacity, there is no lack of wholesale carriers willing to offer bargain-basement prices.
From a strategic perspective, Google needs to find another home run to drive growth. It hit paydirt with AdSense by copying Overture's business model but its other diversification efforts have, at best, seen modest success. For example, Gmail has been out for several months, and it's not like Hotmail and Yahoo Mail are disappearing. Froogle's a great tool to quickly make sure you're geting a deal on eBay, while Blogger's still looking for ways to real money. The tiime will come - and it's coming soon - when investors start to lose their lust for Google and start demanding new high-growth vehicles. Then what?
That said, Internet telephony could be different for Google because voice is a mainstream application. Google could provide the Internet telephony market with a big-time boost by raising the technology's profle and credibility with the masses who are happy - at least for now - not be among the bleeding edge. If you want to take Google and telephony another step forward, why wouldn't it become a virtual wireless service provider? It has the same kind of brand recognition as Virgin, which has enjoyed great success in Australia, the U.S. and the U.K.