New Google venture plans neighborhood "built from the Internet up."

In 2016, Google Fiber began reconnoitering away from its plan to overbuild legacy incumbent telephone and cable company infrastructure with fiber to the premise telecom infrastructure in select metro areas of the United States. Taking on incumbents in existing parts of these metros proved too slow and costly and Google Fiber had no overwhelming technological or marketing advantage relative to them.

Another Google venture takes a different tack. Rather than overlaying fiber optic telecom infrastructure on an existing neighborhood, it would build an entirely new “smart” neighborhood where there are no incumbent providers. One that’s “built from the Internet up… merging the physical and digital realms,” according to a description of the project – dubbed Sidewalk Labs – in this Slate article. A pilot to roll out the concept in an undeveloped portion of Toronto, Canada Eastern Waterfront kicked off in late 2017. (Click here for news release).