Google’s parent company is reportedly halting its rollout of its Fiber internet service in new cities, and laying off employees in the division. But Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said Wednesday he has been informed by the company that the shakeup won’t affect rollout of service in the metro area.
Reed told reporters Wednesday he was told by Google officials that “Atlanta will not be impacted” and that the region remains the type of market Google is keen to serve with its super-fast gigabit internet and TV service.
“I spoke to leaders of Google Fiber and they are moving full steam ahead on all their plans in Atlanta,” Reed said.
Craig Barratt, the executive overseeing Fiber, plans to step down as CEO of the Access division. In a blog post, Barratt wrote that work continues in the company’s existing fiber “footprint,” where the company already provides service or is building networks.
The Los Angeles Times reported services in eight cities, such as Los Angeles, Oklahoma City and Dallas, which were on the drawing board, will not go forward.
“In terms of our existing footprint, in the cities where we’ve launched or are under construction, our work will continue,” Moffat wrote. “For most of our ‘potential Fiber cities’ — those where we’ve been in exploratory discussions — we’re going to pause our operations and offices while we refine our approaches.”
Google Fiber has had a bumpy rollout in some cities in terms of installing the physical fiber network. Ars Technica, citing an unnamed person, reported the Fiber division could cut 9 percent of its staff.
