Alphabet Cutting Jobs in Google Fiber Retrenchment
- Top executive leaves after disagreement over Fiber strategy
- Google Fiber cuts expansion plans in eight large cities
Gerron Diamond, a Google broadband technician, grabs a box of equipment as part of the installation for Google Fiber in the home of Becki Sherwood November 27, 2012 in Kansas City, Kansas. 'It's exciting. It is faster. I am basically paying the same amount for better service,' Sherwood said. 'I am telling all my friends that, being part of the first group, I will help get all the kinks worked out, so it will be perfect for them.' (Photo/Julie Denesha)
Photographer: Julie Denesha/BloombergGoogle in the past two years put in place plans to expand its Fiber fast internet service to more than 20 cities. Inside the company, executives harbored bigger ambitions: to deliver service nationwide and upend the traditional broadband industry.
Google parent Alphabet Inc. reset the project on a more humble footing on Tuesday. Craig Barratt, head of the Access unit that includes Google Fiber, is leaving, and about 9 percent of staff is being let go, according to a person familiar with the situation. The business has about 1,500 employees, meaning there will be more than 130 job losses.