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Analyst: Google Fiber Has Just 53,000 TV Customers

A new report by one Wall Street analyst claims that five years after launch Google Fiber has just 53,000 pay TV subscribers. According to new analysis by MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett, that number is "astonishingly low" for the volume of hype surrounding the project. A report from Berstein Research last October indicated that while the number of total Google Fiber customers is larger at 120,000 -- that's not all that impressive either.

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"[W]e presume that Google has many more broadband subscribers than video ones. Still, this latest data is a useful barometer of just how slowly all this happens, and just how tiny Google Fiber remains in the grand scheme of things," states the analyst.

Moffett notes that at the end of 2015, Google Fiber had just 12,189 video subscribers in Kansas City, Kansas, 37,338 TV subscribers in Kansas City, Missouri, 2,718 TV subscribers in Provo, Utah, and 941 video subscribers in Austin, Texas. And while the company's 53,390 total is up from 29,867 one year earlier, just 12,000 TV subscribers were added in the last six months.

Adding just 12,000 users in six months "for a service that has generated this kind of fanfare isn’t terribly impressive," notes Moffett.

Given the fact Google Fiber is largely building its networks from scratch, the slow numbers are disappointing but not surprising. And while Google Fiber currently only offers "live" service in Austin, Provo, and Kansas City, the company's currently building massive networks in Atlanta, Charlotte, San Antonio, Salt Lake City, and Raleigh/Durham -- with markets like Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego and Chicago on deck.

That's prompted other analysts to note there should be a notable spike once those bigger markets come online over the next few years.

Google Fiber also has placed the heaviest marketing emphasis on its $70, gigabit connections, and many consumers may just no longer see the point in traditional TV. And again, Google Fiber has also made it clear that part of its pricey experiment involves educating and inspiring other municipalities, companies and private/public partnerships to follow Google Fiber's attempts to bring competition to a broadband duopoly once believed to be utterly undisruptable.

Most recommended from 57 comments



j1349705
Premium Member
join:2006-04-15
Holly Springs, NC

12 recommendations

j1349705

Premium Member

Google Fiber isn't about TV

Of course Google Fiber has a lower concentration of TV providers. Google's primary focus is Internet service, and that is what their customers are most interested in. Google Fiber will probably always have a higher than normal amount of TV cord cutters on their service. A large number of people are leaving traditional TV service behind regardless of their provider.

wavelength
CyberSec Pro
join:2015-05-22
Raleigh, NC
Juniper SRX240
Ubiquiti UniFi UAP-AC-PRO

10 recommendations

wavelength

Member

Not impressive?

A new report by one Wall Street analyst claims that five years after launch Google Fiber has just 53,000 pay TV subscribers. According to new analysis by MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett, that number is "astonishingly low" for the volume of hype surrounding the project. A report from Berstein Research last October indicated that while the number of total Google Fiber customers is larger at 120,000 -- that's not all that impressive either.

So the bolded statements strike me as value judgements made without full knowledge of the task that Google has undertaken.

Building a fiber optic network within large metro areas is no small feat. It is unrealistic to expect there to be a million people on the network. Cable providers took years to get DOCSIS rolled out and they had the benefit of coax already being in place. If you ask them how long it took to get cable TV initially rolled out, a much simpler task, you would have similar low numbers early on.
soothsayer15
join:2002-03-01
Irving, TX

10 recommendations

soothsayer15

Member

Craig Moffett is a troll

Craig Moffet has always been against next generation upgrades. He was sour on FiOS, and gave more love to U-verse. I've never respected his opinion, and never will.
tired_runner
Premium Member
join:2000-08-25
CT
·Frontier FiberOp..

9 recommendations

tired_runner

Premium Member

Alphabet has the cash

.... to be patient and methodically roll this out to the masses.

Building a nationwide network in a country like this is no small undertaking. The big players and analysts get to talk smack because of this for now, and I'd bet that is what they're banking on in the face of a potentially disruptive player.

Google Fiber is turning into the T-Mobile of the wired infrastructure industry. Kudos to them for that.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

9 recommendations

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Not really a shock...

TV customers were never a target for Google, Their selling point has always been the $70 gigabit fiber. The TV plan was more to lure people over from cable who were possibly on the fence about it.

The thing is even if Google was able to pull this off nationwide, There is still the huge challenge of getting folks to switch. Getting people to switch providers is not at all simple even when its cheaper.

karpodiem
Hail to The Victors
Premium Member
join:2008-05-20
Troy, MI

8 recommendations

karpodiem

Premium Member

and yet Google has the most minutes of video watched per day

on the the most popular video distribution platform in the world - YouTube

buzz_4_20
join:2003-09-20
Dover, NH
(Software) Sophos UTM Home Edition
Ruckus R310

3 recommendations

buzz_4_20

Member

How about the ratio?

How many customers to they have vs how many CAN get the service?
I feel that may be an impressive one.

The best thing about Google Fiber is that it's causing the consumer to question why they pay so much for what they have now, which means the incumbent ISPs may actually have to do something other than sit on their hands.

mikesterr
join:2008-04-18
Sanford, FL

3 recommendations

mikesterr

Member

Mofett is a D-bag, but he might not be wrong

I have never liked him either, I am biased as I work for Verizon and hated him mainly for how his reports impacted my stock shares. However his analysis may prove a point. Next generation fiber products are still more expensive to deploy and therefore have higher price tag. Customers don't want speed and bandwidth as much as they want value. Take rates will always be lower if the product can't compete on price. The difference to the AVERAGE person between Cable broadband and Fiber broadband is not very drastic, therefore not worth the price. Admittedly I do not know what GF's price models look like, but I do know Verizon's and I know how difficult it is to remain competitive on price where customers have a choice.