Google Halts Fiber Rollout in 10 Cities, Top Exec Steps Down

Google has halted its fiber rollout in 10 cities while its top executive over the project announced that he was stepping down.

Craig Barrett, chief executive officer of the Alphabet Access division for Google Fiber, is stepping down but said in a blog post that he would be staying on as an adviser.

Google Fiber is currently in eight metropolitan areas and has committed to spreading into another four areas, USA Today reported.

Google Fiber is trying to increase Internet speeds to one gigabit per second to cities but the company has been rethinking how to deliver faster broadband access and switching to wireless, USA Today noted.

Stifel analyst Noelle Dilts told Reuters that the rollout of Google Fiber will be paused in Chicago, Dallas, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Jose, and Tampa. The division will lay off about nine percent of its staff, Ars Technica reported.

"Now, just as any competitive business must, we have to continue not only to grow, but also stay ahead of the curve — pushing the boundaries of technology, business, and policy — to remain a leader in delivering superfast Internet," Barrett wrote in his blog post Tuesday.

"We have refined our plan going forward to achieve these objectives. It entails us making changes to focus our business and product strategy. Importantly, the plan enhances our focus on new technology and deployment methods to make superfast Internet more abundant than it is today," he continued.

USA Today reported that Google Fiber will be examining a combination of Webpass, its own wireless technology, and leasing its existing fiber and municipal broadband networks. The plan will supplement its efforts to deliver fiber-optic cable to each home and business it serves.

"These changes to our business and technology will have some immediate implications," Barrett wrote on his blog. "Some of our efforts will remain unchanged, but others will be impacted. In terms of our existing footprint, in the cities where we've launched or are under construction, our work will continue.

"For most of our 'potential Fiber cities— those where we've been in exploratory discussions — we're going to pause our operations and offices while we refine our approaches," he continued.

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