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Costly Google Fiber Service Being Scaled Back in Favor of Google Wireless

posted by cmn32480 on Sunday August 28 2016, @06:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the it-was-still-in-beta dept.

takyon writes:

Alphabet/Google's spending on Google Fiber will be scaled back dramatically, due to high costs and the company falling far short of its 5 million subscriber target (there are around 200,000 customers instead):

[The Information] also reports that CEO Larry Page has demanded that Fiber "reduce the current cost of bringing Google Fiber to customers' homes to one-tenth the current level" That should be interesting. Google Fiber will be scaled back to just 500 employees, half its current staffing.

But wait. Wasn't Google "killing any doubts about its national ISP intentions" just two months ago? Sort of. From now on, Google will focus on selective wireless, rather than wireline infrastructure. It's a lot cheaper. The San Jose Mercury was the first to report the scale-back a fortnight ago.

Also at The Information (paywalled), USA Today, eWeek, and Salon. Ars Technica also has an article about Google Fiber doing battle with AT&T over access to utility poles.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @10:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 28 2016, @10:34PM (#394337)

    Joe Sixpack is a Boomer or a GenXer, and Joe Sixpack built out the infrastructure for Xfinity Wifi by paying the cable bill. Jane Millennial is a starving blogger who is piggybacking on Xfinity WiFi instead because she can't afford to pay the cable bill. Jane Millennial wants the internet on her phone, and Google Fiber isn't going to help her there. Google Wireless isn't helpful to Jane Millennial unless Google becomes just another MVNO [soylentnews.org]. And wasn't there a story about Comcast planning to become an MVNO of Verizon [soylentnews.org]. Surprise, surprise. Comcast knows Joe Sixpack won't live forever, and eventually Jane Millennial will replace him.