Report: Alphabet is asking Google to scale back its aggressive Fiber rollout

Though Google continues to add cities to its Fiber lineup, it seems parent company Alphabet is ready to scale back.

A new report from The Information notes Alphabet has asked Google to drastically cut staff (down to 500 employees) and expenses (reduce spending by 10 percent).

It goes on to say the headaches associated with rolling Fiber out were more than it bargained for. We recently detailed the trouble Google was facing in Portland, a market it has since distanced Fiber from.

The Information also says Google’s benchmark for success with Fiber was five million subscribers in its first few years, and has fallen short of that goal.

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And that’s probably a precursor for Fiber’s recent interest in wireless Gigabit internet. According to sources, it’s about one-fifth the cost of a traditional, cables-in-the-ground rollout.

The side effect of Fiber is that many existing internet providers have stepped up to offer better gains, but those flashy download speeds sometime come at a premium.

Fiber was always a big gamble for Google, but left most dreaming of a day their city would get Gigabit internet at a reasonable cost. Now it feels like Fiber is another moonshot that just isn’t going to hit its mark.