Given Google’s mission–to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful–and the telecom costs and peering fees associated with this goal, it was inevitable that the company would look to secure additional network capacity.

But evidently, Google (GOOG) had other ambitions here as well–like deploying its own 1Gbps fiber-to-the-home Internet service.

“We’re planning to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States,” Google product managers Minny Ingersoll and James Kelly wrote in a company blog post. “We’ll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.”

Google insists that the purpose of this project is to “experiment and learn” in hope of making Internet access better and faster for everyone. That’s an altruistic goal, but a selfishly altruistic one. By providing Internet speeds of 1Gbps, Google will drive further usage of its various services and the contextual ads it peppers them with. At the same time, the company will humiliate the telcos into improving their own networks and, given Google’s stated focus on “openness and choice,” perhaps even change market dynamics.

But is this plan setting the stage for Google to become a full-fledged network operator? That seems unlikely. Telecom is a low-margin, capital-intensive business. I can’t imagine that it is very attractive to Google, which can’t even be bothered to build out a viable support system for its new Nexus One smartphone business.

“Given our high smartphone numbers, double our closest peer, in both markets, we have large population centers, very sophisticated users with high expectations, and very high volumes,” John Stankey, president and CEO, AT&T Operations said during the call.

“For example, in the dense areas of New York City, there are periods during the week when nearly 70% of the devices active on the network are data-intensive handsets. So, raising performance levels in these two markets is the organization’s top priority. We’re putting all the resources available against the issue and we’re closing the gap.”

Okay, great. What does that mean? Between $18 billion and $19 billion in 2010 capital expenditures–approximately $2 billion of it for additional wireless network and back-haul investment, for one thing. For another, 2,000 new cell sites. Finally, the company is upgrading existing cell sites with fiber for better 3G speeds.

Now, a few more NYC-SF specifics from Stankey:

We’re adding third and fourth radio network carriers to maximize capacity on available spectrum. In Manhattan specifically, now that we have scalable cell site controllers in place throughout most of the island, we’re intensely focused on putting more radio capacity on the street. We’ll increase the amount of 3G spectrum and radio capacity by one-third in high volume areas of the island by the end of the first quarter.

While we are through the majority of our zoning challenges in the Bay area, we’ll continue to work the remaining issues we have in parts of the Financial District and a handful of other locations to final resolution. We’re adding cell towers; and over the coming months, we’re building and upgrading high-capacity antenna systems to boost performance in high-traffic areas like stadiums, convention centers, and public transportation routes.

So will be see significant improvement in both markets in the coming months? Perhaps. Certainly, AT&T is suggesting we can expect one. And, as Stankey noted this morning, “Today a dollar in wireless investment yields twice the capacity than it did a year ago.” Let’s hope so–especially in markets like New York and San Francisco.

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