Many people stuck with other wireless providers have hoped for Google Fiber to come to their area. If they weren’t in one of the seven major metropolitan areas that Google Fiber did cover, the hope was that the endeavor for Google’s $70-for-gigabit-fiber plans would become an option.
However, reports have claimed that, while Google Fiber has been well-received, the actual number of sign-ups have been far below Google’s target goal of five million people.
Alphabet CEO Larry Page has reportedly asked the CEO of Google Fiber, Craig Barratt, to downsize his staff by fifty-percent to just five hundred people.
The problems against Fiber seem to be significant. With the expense of having to dig to lay new fiber optic cables – the same problem Verizon encountered that forced them to stop expanding FiOS a few years ago – it seems that Fiber has its work cut out for it.
Another problem seems to be the customer base. By the end of 2014, Google Fiber had a reported two hundred thousand customers. While reports are unsure of how many it has now, experts claim it is unlikely that they would have made their goal of five million within the two year time frame.
Competitions with other wireless providers, like AT&T, Comcast and other companies have also proven to be an issue. These companies have lowered their own prices and begun to offer faster speeds at lower prices, which gives customers less incentive to switch to Google Fiber.
While Google has talked about less expensive methods of reaching customers, such as high speed wireless point-to-point access systems, the problems still continue as these systems tend to lose signal to rain or if there are leaves between the home and its line-of-sight transmitter.
While Google Fiber continues to expand in Salt Lake City, it’s seventh metro area, expansions have been paused in Portland and San Jose.
The future of the company remains uncertain.
