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Two Google Fiber Cities on Hold as Company Eyes Wireless

A report in the Wall Street Journal claims that Google Fiber is dramatically rethinking the company's plans after initial fiber deployments took longer and were most costly than anticipated. Last week we noted how Google Fiber had put several launch markets in Silicon Valley on hold as it explores whether or not to push harder into fifth generation (5G) and millimeter wave broadband, technologies that can be deployed for a fraction of the cost it takes to dig up and bury fiber optic broadband.

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But according to the Journal Google Fiber's doing more than just putting Silicon Valley on hold.

Anonymous sources tell the Journal the company is looking to primarily use wireless for broadband in roughly a dozen new areas including Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas, -- while deployments in San Jose and Portland have been placed on hold. There's no indication that other under-construction cities (like Salt Lake City or Charlotte) are on hold, though the company has been using more pre-existing fiber to help speed up deployments.

Google Fiber's parent company Alphabet also recently acquired gigabit wireless company Webpass, highlighting how Google Fiber believes that wireless should be able to provide gigabit speeds, at a fraction of overall deployment cost of traditional fiber broadband.

But Google Fiber clearly wants to put this new technology through its paces before using it in many markets. Under the guidance of former Atheros CEO Craig Barratt, Google has filed applications with the FCC to conduct trials in the 71-76 GHz and 81-86 GHz millimeter wave bands, and is also conducting a variety of different tests in the 3.5 GHz band, the 5.8 GHz band and the 24 GHz band.

"We’re continuing to work with city leaders to explore the possibility of bringing Google Fiber to many cities," the company says of the reports. "This means deploying the latest technologies in alignment with our product road map, while understanding local considerations and challenges, which takes time."

Most recommended from 162 comments



Gilitar
join:2012-02-01
Mobile, AL

9 recommendations

Gilitar

Member

ADHD

Google seems to have the corporate form of ADHD. Wireless will NEVER be able to obtain the speeds that fiber will be able to provide.

TestBoy
Premium Member
join:2009-10-13
Irmo, SC

6 recommendations

TestBoy

Premium Member

Hate to say it....

But now I have doubts.
I have worked in and watched telecom for 30 years.
When something is 'on hold' because of [insert reason here] it means it's dead.
Very rarely does something in telecom come out of 'on hold'

To me 'on hold' means:
"We did not get the results we expected and to make investors and customers happy we need to look for the exit"

Sorry folks but I think this one is dead.
It's up to us to make upgrades happen.
If we want it we have to make it happen because corporate America has no interest in doing it.

You may now downvote... but I have a feeling I might get at least one upvote from Corporate... MAYBE!

andyross
MVM
join:2003-05-04
Aurora, IL

4 recommendations

andyross

MVM

Rain fade?

I wonder just what distance this millimeter wave will work? How will it be affected by the weather, birds, trees?

karlmarx
join:2006-09-18
Moscow, ID

4 recommendations

karlmarx

Member

Technical Questions?

I have no doubt that 5G can provide 1gb service. That's never been in question. The big questions is HOW MANY connections can it support at once? But how MANY 1gb connections can it support at once? We can assume they will run 10Gb (maybe 100gb, but not likely) to the 'node'. If they are selling 1gb connections, is the antenna capable of supporting 10 or 100 or 1000 streams at 1gb/sec? How many homes are they expecting a single node to support? What's the distance for 1gb links? Again, like 4G, is the promise of what they can deliver even achievable? Wireless sounds GOOD on paper, but what are the real world implications. Are you going to get massive latency if the node is busy? are you going to get horrible speeds if 1000 people try and share a 10gb link? And most importantly, can you provide a CONSISTENT speed for what you are selling? Even around here, 4G speeds drop dramatically depending on time of day/etc/etc.. The thing about wired internet, is that you can always provide a consistent connection speed. If 5G suffers from the same problems EVERY OTHER WIRELESS technology does, it's a band-aid approach to the problem. Sure, they save money in the short run, but I always though Google/alphabet was playing the long term game. I would expect short sighted companies like AT&T and Verizon to oversell their spectrum, was not expecting to see it from google.

PhoenixDown
FIOS is Awesome
Premium Member
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY

3 recommendations

PhoenixDown

Premium Member

Took Longer and more costly

Google fiber has been a poster child for some time but without their parent company basically subsidizing the entire process, they are now choking on the costs.

All else aside, it shows how costly and difficult the process really is.