Google Fiber to expand to 22 US cities in first expansion

Reuters-Google Fiber plans to bring its high-speed internet service to multiple cities in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska and Nevada over the next several years in its first big expansion since it was founded in 2015 as an independent Alphabet Inc unit.

In his first media interview since joining Google Fiber in February 2018, Dinni Jain told Reuters on Wednesday that his team was finally prepared to add a bit more build velocity after four years of sharpening operations.

The expansion to 22 metro areas across the United States is expected to start on 17th November, including previously announced projects in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Mesa. The company's findings of where speeds lag made the decision to make the decisions.

There was an impression 10 years ago that Google Fiber was trying to build the entire country, Jain said. What we are about to say is, 'No, we are not trying to build the entire country. Jain didn't want to comment on Fiber's financial results or fundraising plans.

Some other Alphabet subsidiaries have raised outside funding to validate their value, which has been shut down or subsumed by other entities. Fiber could face similar choices over the next three to five years as the expansion materializes.

The growth plan comes as Alphabet and other companies slow hiring and shuttering some fringe projects due to concerns about a global recession.

The intent is to build businesses that will be successful in and of their own way, and that is what we are trying to do at Google Fiber for sure, Jain said. He said that the company could not rely on dipping into a rich parent's wallet. In 2010 Google took on Internet service stalwarts such as AT&T Inc and Comcast Corp. with co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin declaring they were tired of waiting for Congress to drive the industry to faster speeds and lower costs.

The project worked. Competitors tried to match Google Fiber'sFiber's gigabit per second offerings in initial launch sites such as Austin, Texas and even in Los Angeles and other areas under consideration.

Jain was so paranoid about his previous role as Time Warner Cable's chief operating officer.

In 2015, Google separated its core business from other bets such as Fiber, Delivery drones and Anti-aging solutions. Brin and Page gave some oversight.

Fiber had to pare its hundreds of millions of dollars in annual losses, which had gone toward construction, experimenting with new ways to ground fiberoptic cables and subsidizing some service.

Fiber has minimaled expansion to West Des Moines, Iowa, and within existing metropolitan areas while Wall Street cheered cost controls and transparency. Jain honed processes and dumped ideas aimed at saving time, like taping cables to sidewalks.

It did more building last year than the previous few years combined.

Jain said that we had to go from a spirit and culture of tremendous innovation to one of operational excellence.

Fiber has an edge in its view. Burying trenches less deep than others should save time, while streamlining prices and setting to limit help calls from customers should hold down costs.

Jain said that customers contacted Fiber a third less than what he had seen at similar companies, and he described sign-ups as very healthy and higher than what he expected before joining.

Jain added that fiber will continue to pursue wireless service, through its Webpass brand, for multi-unit buildings. In some cases, it will lease local fiber networks from other providers.