Google-Dish Mobile Service a Go?

Though talks between Google and Dish Network about collaborating on a new Long Term Evolution network might not actually lead to something more concrete than preliminary talks, the way the possible venture could launch might have interesting ramifications.

First of all, all Google really wants is faster Internet access, and the potential partnership with Dish (and others, presumably) would spur continual development in that regard. That's why Google seeds markets and firms such as municipal Wi-Fi, fiber to the home and Clearwire. 

Rumors of a mid-2013 launch sound far too aggressive. The Federal Communications Commission has not yet formally approved Dish Network's request to use its mobile satellite spectrum for a terrestrial LTE network, so it is almost totally inconceivable a national network could be launched that fast.

There are some other avenues, such as Dish Network doing what some other upstart mobile operators have done: lease capacity at first while building its own network. Sprint is a possible partner, in that regard. 

The equally compelling development would be Dish and Google launching a national LTE network that is "data only," dispensing with voice except as an over the top application. Google Voice comes to mind. That would support both text messaging and voice, without the complications of voice infrastructure.

FreedomPop is doing something similar, providing national data access only, not its own voice service. The potential implications are clear: can a national 4G network actually sustain itself strictly on data revenues, without voice and messaging revenue?

Consider it from Dish Network's perspective: Dish clearly wants a platform to launch mobile direct video services. And Google already has concluded that basic model, using revenues from broadband access and entertainment video, offers a path to sustainable operation of Google Fiber. 

The rumored Dish-Google collaboration remains a rumor, not an established fact. But if it does materialize, we should get more answers about the "data-only" business model. Up to this point, Google seems to have concluded that a fixed network offering 1 Gbps service could only become self sustaining if it also offers video entertainment service.