Report: Google to cut half of Fiber staff

Google parent company Alphabet is reportedly looking to cut half the staff of its Google Fiber division, as it looks more to wireless technologies.

According to a report by The Information, Alphabet CEO Larry Page has asked Google Fiber boss Craig Barratt to halve the size of the Fiber team to 500 people after failing to meet sign-up targets for its high-speed broadband offering.

Citing unnamed sources, the report claims that by the end of 2014 Google Fiber had some 200,000 customers and the current figure is “well short of initial expectations” with Google initially hoping to sign up some 5 million subscribers.

The news follows a recent Wall Street Journal report that claimed Google Fiber was proving “more expensive and time consuming than anticipated” with Alphabet now looking to use wireless technology rather than cables to connect homes in around 12 new metro areas.

Last month Google Fiber opened up sign-ups for residents and businesses in Charlotte, North Carolina. This came after Google announced plans to launch Google Fiber to 18 more US cities across four new metro areas – Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and Raleigh-Durham – in January 2015.

Google kicked off its Fiber initiative six years ago in Kansas City and in June of this year it agreed to buy San Francisco-based internet service provider, Webpass.