Why Google Fiber Failed to Fix Broadband
In 2010, Google shook the tech world by announcing that it would get into the ISP business with Google Fiber, deploying gigabit fiber-optic Internet connections in what would become nine metro areas around the United States. Now Google has put the ambitious project on an indefinite “pause” and is even pulling out of Boston. You can likely guess the reasons why Google Fiber has struggled: local politics and the difficulty of installing real-world infrastructure. Despite its challenges, Google Fiber has had a positive effect on the Internet market in the United States by generating discussion about broadband competition. Plus, in markets with Google Fiber, broadband prices have dropped and service speeds have improved radically.
It failed for the same reason FIOS and U-Verse failed: Deploying fiber is expensive and there is no guarantee of returns. You can spend a billion dollars deploying fiber in a city and get no customers. Cable operators will cut their price to easily match fiber deployment. Plus, cable operators have joined together to offer “free” citywide WiFi to their customers which can lock people into their cable provider.
The best hope for completion is 5G. Cellphone carriers have the customers to help pay for the deployment and once installed, could compete against the cable carriers. T-Mobile and Dish have a ton of midrange bandwidth that’s awful for mobile, but will work great for home internet.
Google announced Fiber in Salt Lake City 3 years ago and almost immediately the other 2 broadband providers came out with fiber up to 1 Gig in my neighborhood. So it fix broadband for me!