Google's experiment to lay new fiber at a greatly reduced cost and faster than the telecoms companies has ended in failure, and it's the residents of Louisville, Kentucky that will feel the pain.
Alphabet halted Google Fiber's expansion back in October 2016, meaning no new cities would receive superfast broadband provided by the search giant. However, Google quietly started experimenting with a new version of a Google Fiber rollout in 2017 using a much cheaper and faster method of laying cables.
As CNET reports, the experiment started in Louisville and San Antonio and relied on "nanotrenching" to lay cable quickly and cheaply. Nanotrenching involves digging 2-inch deep trenches at the edge of roads, inserting a cable, and then sealing the trench with a rubber liquid that hardens to protect the cable underneath. The problem is, the cables started popping back out of the ground leading to additional work being required and therefore added costs.
For San Antonio, Google switched to using "microtrenching," which digs a 6-inch deep trench and work continues there. However, for Louisville, the experiment is over and Google is pulling out citing the cable-laying method used as the reason why. To fix the problem there would require rebuilding the entire network, and Google say that's "just not the right business decision for us."
The worst part of this decision is the fact Louisville residence already using Google Fiber for their internet needs have only been given two months notice to find an alternative solution, although their last two months will be free as compensation. Google Fiber will go offline there on April 15.
Google is keen to point out that its service in other cities remain unaffected by the Louisville decision and it continues to sign up new customers in those cities.