Google May Not Abandon Fiber, Says Wells Fargo Analyst

Google Fiber's expansion in North Carolina may show the internet company isn't exiting the ISP business, as some speculate, Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche said in a research note Tuesday night. Google Fiber tweeted Tuesday that its service is coming to Morrisville and the state’s Triangle region, which includes Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Durham and Cary. Recent reports that Google has frozen expansion while considering wireless technologies (see 1609070026) may be more of a “course correction” than abandonment of the company’s fiber strategy, Fritzsche said. Google may use wireless for the last mile, she wrote. “But even if wireless is used for this last 200 feet or so, this essentially means that the fiber to the base station -- from which the wireless signal is carried -- needs to be that much more durable/robust. Put another way, fiber should still be very much part of the Google Fiber plan -- even with a wireless solution at the last mile.” Google didn’t comment Wednesday.