Google Fiber Halts Expansion Plans

Alphabet is halting plans to expand its fiber-optic internet network, Google Fiber, which not long ago had cities competing to attract service. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, had been in talks to install infrastructure in several cities including Dallas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.

The CEO of Access, the division that oversees Google Fiber, will step down, and will also see an undetermined reduction in staff.

The New York Times reports that Alphabet may be "shifting to new technologies and methods of deploying high-speed internet":

After years of costly investments to dig up roads and lay fiber optic cable, Google started considering alternatives, including wireless and fiber partnerships, that did not necessarily require the company to build a full network.

The service won’t shut down in the eight metropolitan areas where it exists—like Atlanta, Nashville, and Salt Lake City—or where construction is underway.