Google exec on 1-Gig network: 'This is not a charity--we expect to make money at it'

While most industry observers have viewed Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) move to construct a fiber network in Kansas as a test of the type of applications that could be delivered on a 1 Gbps network, executives there insist they are focused on making money with their Google Access project.

"This is not a charity. It's not a nonprofit. It's not a dot.org initiative," Google Access general manager Kevin Lo told The Kansas City Star. "We expect to make money at it. It's a business we expect to be in."

Google hasn't said how it will price the high-speed service that it will market to consumers in Kansas City. It will challenge incumbents Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), AT&T (NYSE: T)and SureWest (Nasdaq: SURW) in the city.

Google is expected to spend $1 billion on the Google Access project. It plans to begin offering service in some neighborhoods by this summer, but hasn't said when its 1 Gbps network will be available to residents throughout the city.

For more:
- see story in The Kansas City Star 

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