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Google Fiber Cutting Jobs and Halting Rollout

nytimes.com

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Re: Google Fiber Cutting Jobs and Halting Rollout

#31

Post by gthtjtkt »

staticelf wrote: post #12

That sucks for citizens of the US. I think the Swedish (Nordic?) model for bringing internet connectivity to it's citizens is superior. The municipalities own (most of) the networks and all the fiber cables, letting companies use them for a small(ish) fee. These companies later sell it to customers. This help people to get the best deals and ensure that the networks are continually upgraded. For example, I have 250/1…

All hope is not lost (yet):

> Craig Barratt, chief executive of Access, the Alphabet division containing Google Fiber, also said he planned to step down because the company was shifting to new technologies and methods of deploying high-speed internet.

Fiber is expensive in every way (labor, regulatory hurdles, resistance from existing broadband companies, etc.). If they've found a viable alternative, it could mean they'll be able to accelerate their broadband rollout.

I'm not saying we should assume that's already the case, but we also shouldn't assume this means they're giving up.

Re: Google Fiber Cutting Jobs and Halting Rollout

#32

Post by arenaninja »

SEJeff wrote: post #13

Well google announced they were exploring a fiber rollout in Chicago. Now both AT&T along with Time Warner Cable have 1G service throughout parts of the city. Alternatively, one can look at this not as a failure, but as a success. The point of Google fiber was to force carriers to get faster internet to everyone. It appears that it has been working. This benefits google directly as their properties such as Youtube ca…

That's nice for Chicago, and Austin, but what about LA, Houston, etc.?

I pay $75/month for 150Mbps via Comcast... and most days a speed test will say around half of that, and there's infrequent outages (averaging roughly one every month).

The only other service where I live is AT&T: 18Mbps for $50/month. And whatever you may think of Comcast, my experience with AT&T's service and customer service has been far, far worse.

This loss of competition hurts consumers

Re: Google Fiber Cutting Jobs and Halting Rollout

#33

Post by floathub »

samfisher83 wrote: post #16

Building infrastructure is hard. Even 100 years later we still have original AT&T (Verizon and AT&T) as the dominant telecommunications company. Google also seems to just give up on a lot of its products: Google+ Hangouts Project Ara Google Buzz Google video Orkut Talk Meebo etc. http://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/visuel/2015/03/06/google-memori...

Actually, we don't have the original AT&T. They went bankrupt. Cingular Wireless bought the bankrupt assets and changed their name to AT&T. But yes, building infrastructure is hard.

Re: Google Fiber Cutting Jobs and Halting Rollout

#34

Post by staticelf »

iuhgdwij wrote: post #30
staticelf wrote: post #12

That sucks for citizens of the US. I think the Swedish (Nordic?) model for bringing internet connectivity to it's citizens is superior. The municipalities own (most of) the networks and all the fiber cables, letting companies use them for a small(ish) fee. These companies later sell it to customers. This help people to get the best deals and ensure that the networks are continually upgraded. For example, I have 250/1…

s/payed/paid Lätt att stava knasigt :-)

Så går det när man skriver för fort! Rättade det och ett fel till! Tackar.

Re: Google Fiber Cutting Jobs and Halting Rollout

#35

Post by drzaiusapelord »

staticelf wrote: post #12

That sucks for citizens of the US. I think the Swedish (Nordic?) model for bringing internet connectivity to it's citizens is superior. The municipalities own (most of) the networks and all the fiber cables, letting companies use them for a small(ish) fee. These companies later sell it to customers. This help people to get the best deals and ensure that the networks are continually upgraded. For example, I have 250/1…

>That sucks for citizens of the US.

This seems a little hyperbolic. Where I live I can get gigabit either via Comcast or AT&T here in Chicago. The rollout to gigabit is slow, but its coming. Sweden has 9.5m people. We have 320m and a huge landmass. Infrastructure upgrades simply take longer considering our size and population and a variety of other issues.

Its not exactly Google or bust. Its clear Google doesn't have the chops to enter more markets. Its assumed they were never serious about being competitive and wanted to jump-start gigabit for the home. Whether or not they accomplished that is unknown as both AT&T and Comcast had gigabit plans before Google rolled out its own product. I'm sure it helped push things forward a bit.

Lastly, Google is looking towards a WISP-model for its services. The fiber runs are too encumbered with right-of-way and crony monopolistic practices. Even then Google is taking a loss with its service according to some analysts. With the proper wireless bandwidth and licensed frequencies, you can deliver internet services without a fiber run to the home.

Google is also a mobile company much more than an ISP. It makes no sense to have this artificial division between home and mobile internet. With voip over lte it makes no sense to even have things like gsm or cdma anymore or have your phone number 'owned' by some mobile carrier. It seems google is retooling for a more beefy project fi or something similar that will bridge the gap between home and mobile internet. I imagine, in the future, the idea of having a home internet and a separate mobile internet is going to go away.

edit: -3 score? Please reply instead of drive-by hating.

Re: Google Fiber Cutting Jobs and Halting Rollout

#36

Post by c0nducktr »

staticelf wrote: post #12

That sucks for citizens of the US. I think the Swedish (Nordic?) model for bringing internet connectivity to it's citizens is superior. The municipalities own (most of) the networks and all the fiber cables, letting companies use them for a small(ish) fee. These companies later sell it to customers. This help people to get the best deals and ensure that the networks are continually upgraded. For example, I have 250/1…

Why not skip the middle step and just have the municipalities provide it to the customers directly?

Re: Google Fiber Cutting Jobs and Halting Rollout

#37

Post by ocdtrekkie »

FT_intern wrote: post #22
samfisher83 wrote: post #16

Building infrastructure is hard. Even 100 years later we still have original AT&T (Verizon and AT&T) as the dominant telecommunications company. Google also seems to just give up on a lot of its products: Google+ Hangouts Project Ara Google Buzz Google video Orkut Talk Meebo etc. http://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/visuel/2015/03/06/google-memori...

building new infrastructure is much harder now than decades ago. It's been much easier for the companies to retain infrastructure

But everyone moving to fiber IS building new infrastructure. Sure, they're continuing to cash in on telephone wire and coax, but fiber is new infrastructure.

And Google discovered that you CAN'T just make money deploying Gigabit fiber for $60 a month. Getting even a 50 Mbps fiber circuit around here is hundreds of dollars a month.

Re: Google Fiber Cutting Jobs and Halting Rollout

#38

Post by ocdtrekkie »

kyrra wrote: post #21
the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #4

Can't say I'm surprised. I expect Google fi to have a similar fate in a few years. It's not Google business.

What fate would that be? Fiber isn't going away, they have just stopped expansion. There are also hints about investing in other tech instead of laying new fiber across an entire city (WebPass as the article mentions). I agree that Fiber isn't Google business, which is why Alphabet was created. It allows for the company to try expanding into areas that aren't just software. Also, Google does a LOT of infrastructure w…

If Google isn't pursuing development of it, expect it to go away. They'll probably sell off Google Fiber, either in whole to a national ISP or piecemeal to more local providers. Google has no interest in unprofitably maintaining a ton of physical infrastructure for a tiny number of customers.

Re: Google Fiber Cutting Jobs and Halting Rollout

#39

Post by ihsw »

Yhippa wrote: post #8
Leszek wrote: post #2

Previous discussion (mostly about the blog post): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12792928

I read that one first then started seeing these articles like the OP all over. What incredible spin. Two completely different things happened if you read each one separately.

I was thinking this article is simply reducing the market-speak down to relevant information -- Google is putting Fiber on life-support until someone buys them out. Like many acquisitions to buy customers, Fiber may be acquired for the same reasons.
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