Google Delays California Fiber Build While Exploring Other Tech

Google delayed fiber builds in multiple California cities while it explores alternative technologies, said a staff report by the city of Palo Alto. It could be six months or more before Google resumes its fiber network build in the Bay Area, the report said: “Google indicated that they are exploring more innovative ways of deployment that overcome some of the challenges they are facing in their current builds. It is the City’s understanding that the cities of Mountain View, San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale are also being delayed.” A Google representative notified the Palo Alto staff about the delay July 18, the report said. “The fiber ball is entirely in Google’s court,” emailed a San Jose spokesman. “We’ve taken care of all the environmental, permitting, and land use procedural issues needed for them to move ahead whenever they’re ready to.” He said the city and Google Fiber have had “a strong, productive working relationship” over the past two years, and the city remains optimistic Google will move forward with its plans to extend fiber into San Jose, “even if their original schedule gets modified so they can take advantage of technology advances that might be potentially less disruptive.” The delay follows Google Fiber’s acquisition of Webpass, a California CLEC specializing in point-to-point wireless broadband that could be combined with fiber to spread high-speed Internet to more homes (see 1606230046). Google Fiber last month opened shop in Charlotte (see 1607120030), and in June said it’s eyeing Dallas for further expansion (see 1606140047). Google continues "to work with city leaders to explore the possibility of bringing Google Fiber to the South Bay area," a company spokeswoman said. "This means deploying the latest technologies in alignment with our product roadmap, while understanding local considerations and challenges, which takes time."