Google’s ambitious Fiber service is one which is highly sought after in many areas around the U.S., and it seems that some of the locations where Google had planned to lay the groundwork for Fiber and start the buildout may not get the chance to see the service as an option. This is because Google is reportedly hitting the pause button on its plans in eleven separate locations where it had initially considered bringing the service, as noted by Google’s Craig Barratt in a blog post today.
As for where the areas are that are having the operations put on hold, this includes the cities that were labeled by Google as “potential” locations on their Google Fiber map, which are Portland, Chicago, Louisville, Dallas, Phoenix, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, Oklahoma City, and Tampa. The unfortunate part about all of this, though, more so than the fact that the residents in these areas which were hoping for Fiber may not ever get access to it, is that Google will reportedly be cutting the jobs of their Fiber employees in those locations, a number which is said to be about nine percent of the staff.
Google does have four other cities located around the U.S. which don’t currently have Fiber set up, but they are upcoming Fiber cities so Google is still committed to getting Fiber up and running in these areas. This includes Irvine, San Francisco, San Antonio, and Huntsville. Barratt, who is the Senior Vice President at Alphabet and the CEO of Access, will also be stepping down from his CEO position but will stay on as an adviser. While this may sound like a down time for Fiber in the midst of employees losing jobs and plans being put on hold for expansion, it would seem that isn’t the case, as Barratt mentions that the company is simply shifting their focus which at this time means they have to put focus on “staying ahead of the curve” and pushing boundaries of new technology, which could be in reference to the work that they’re doing with Webpass, their wireless ISP which was acquired back in the beginning of this month. He also mentions that he is confident that partnership discussions in the cities that are on pause will resume once the company has had a chance to refine their approach and advance their technology. Whether or not that actually means Fiber plans will pick up in any of the now on pause potential locations is unclear, but it’s a hope for those who remain wanting.