Google lays off staff and 'pauses' Fiber in 8 cities

Nine percent of Google Fiber's staff is being laid off or reassigned, and the company says it will be "pausing" its operations in most of the "potential Fiber cities."

Craig Barratt, SVP of Alphabet and CEO of Access announced today he would be standing down from his CEO role, but will stay on as an adviser. The work of Google Fiber will continue in cities where the service has already launched or is currently under construction. However, in cities where Google Fiber has simply been in discussions, such as Los Angeles, Dallas, and Tampa, operations and offices will be paused. No timeline has been given on when operations will resume, with the post only saying it will be "while we refine our approaches."

Although saying "we'll be reducing our employee base," the exact number of layoffs was not announced alongside Barratt's departure, however Bloomberg reports nine percent of the Access division will lose their jobs there, amounting to about 130 people.

Webpass, which was recently purchased by Google Fiber, will continue, and the plan is to expand the service, offering high speed wireless Internet in cities such as San Francisco, Boston, and Miami.

If you want to know what it's like having the fastest (just about) Internet in the country, check out Tuan's story. Spoiler alert: with a 2Gbps fiber connection, the internet is your hard drive.

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