Google Fiber reportedly ordered to cut costs, downsize
Building a fiber-based network is expensive and time-consuming. The company is said to have fallen "well short" of its subscriber goals.
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Google Fiber's ultrafast 1Gbps broadband service may not be going fast enough.
Google Fiber, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, has fallen "well short" of its subscriber goals and is now looking to cut costs, according to a report Thursday from The Information.
Alphabet co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have been unhappy with the rollout and costs of Google Fiber, unnamed sources told The Information. Last month, Page reportedly ordered Google Fiber chief Craig Barratt to halve the size of the team and significantly reduce the cost of bringing the service to customers' homes.
Google Fiber declined to comment.
Since 2010 when Google first announced plans to build a fiber network, the company has challenged phone and cable operators to deploy affordable high-speed broadband.
But building a fiber-based network is expensive and time-consuming. Google started in Kansas City and now offers service in a handful of cities -- with Salt Lake City added just this week -- and has plans for several more.
In June, Google Fiber bought Webpass, an internet service provider that uses wireless technology to deliver high-speed broadband to apartment buildings and businesses. The acquisition should help Google Fiber accelerate its current deployments and push into new cities. Google Fiber also hinted at a shift to wireless technology in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission. In it, the company outlined plans to experiment with the 3.5 GHz band, spectrum that could "help relieve Wi-Fi congestion -- improving the experience of consumers accessing the Internet over wireless broadband."
When Google launched its Fiber service, executives hoped to sign up around 5 million subscribers in five years, said The Information, but as of 2014, the service had only signed up around 200,000 subscribers.
CNET's Marguerite Reardon contributed to this report.