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Google Presses Pause On Fiber Rollout In Chicago

By David Matthews | October 26, 2016 6:45am
 Pedestrians walk past Google Inc.'s Fiber Space in downtown Austin, Texas, U.S., on Saturday, April 4, 2015.
Pedestrians walk past Google Inc.'s Fiber Space in downtown Austin, Texas, U.S., on Saturday, April 4, 2015.
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Matthew Busch/Bloomberg via Getty Images

CHICAGO — Chicagoans yearning for faster internet need to search somewhere other than Google for now.

The tech giant is pausing its planned rollout of its super fast "Fiber" service in Chicago and elsewhere, Google executive Craig Barratt wrote in a blog post Tuesday. Barratt, the former head of Google Fiber, also announced layoffs and his resignation in the post.

"We’re confident we’ll have an opportunity to resume our partnership discussions [with rollout cities] once we’ve advanced our technologies and solutions," wrote Barratt, who's staying with Google parent Alphabet as an adviser.

Listen to Dave Matthews talk about the end of Chicago's Google Fiber hopes.

"In this handful of cities that are still in an exploratory stage, and in certain related areas of our supporting operations, we’ll be reducing our employee base."

The announcement arrives two months after reports that Google founder Larry Page ordered Fiber to slash half its staff amid lackluster subscriber growth.

A Google spokeswoman refuted the report when asked by DNAinfo, pointing to recent comments by Google's chief financial officer that the tech giant still saw Fiber as a "huge market opportunity."

RELATED: Google Fiber Plans To Compete With Comcast Here Despite Rumored Layoffs

Fiber is a network of underground fiber-optic cables that are faster than traditional copper ones, touting "TV like no other" and "super fast" internet that Google says allow users to download a movie in less than two minutes.

Google debuted the service for $70 a month in 2012 in Kansas City, and has since expanded it to six other cities. Google announced late last year that it was "exploring" the possibility of bringing the service to Chicago. 

But Fiber installation is cumbersome, and requires a long list of city concessions like allowing Google to plant underground cables and decide where to place its "huts," or distribution centers linking the network to customers' homes. Such work could require Google to buy properties throughout Chicago.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel said late last year that "high speed broadband internet is a key ingredient for job growth today and part of the foundation for an even stronger economy tomorrow."

Though not mentioned by Barratt, Google has been eyeing a wireless Fiber alternative that would be easier and cheaper to implement. The company acquired Webpass, a wireless Internet provider active in Chicago, in June.

"In Chicago, Google Fiber and Webpass will work together to extend and accelerate deployments via point-to-point wireless," a Google spokeswoman said in an e-mail. "This is great news for residents who can’t wait to get Internet speeds up to a Gigabit even sooner."

Fiber's high-speed internet and television bundle costs $130 per month, but Google has been credited so far for bringing down internet and TV costs in the markets where Fiber exists.

But Fiber has also been criticized for not being affordable enough for the low-income neighborhoods that are most often deprived of internet access.

The Information, a website that follows tech companies, reported in August that Google had attracted only 200,000 Fiber customers by the end of 2014 — two years after its Kansas City debut.

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