This doesn't appear to be a replacement of the internet, rather a fast lane for it. Correct me if I am wrong, but this just sounds like an updated version of the internet designed for the higher bandwidth that is available over a strictly fiber optics network. This merely seems like a natural progression of what would take place anyways. In the article it said it would allow the ability to download a movie in 5 seconds. If you assume a DVD quality movie is 4700MB, then you would need a 9GB/s (900MB/s actual speed of DL) connection inorder for that to be possible wouldn't you? Fios that is available from Verizon currently only offers a maximum of 100MB/s I believe. Which would allow for approximately 10MB/s actual download speeds. So we would all basically need a conncetion that is 90 times faster than the fastest currently only available to people in very limited areas.
Unfortunately, I don't see much to get excited about here. A vast network of fiber optic lines needs to be laid out before any such "grid" will be available for most everyday people. This "grid" is more like a private network that works in conjunction with the internet, but doesn't permit the slower traffic and data transfer through lower bandwidth networks that the current internet does.
