Google Fiber is now connecting homes and businesses in the North Carolina Research Triangle. This is the 8th metro area to be covered by Fiber. The service is already present in Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Kansas City, Nashville, Provo and Salt Lake City. Google Fiber is going to start its Triangle venture at Morrisville, which is home to 23,000 residents.
Google Fiber is planning to cover more than 5,000 miles of high-speed cabling in the Triangle area. The company's Facebook page says that customers in Morrisville will be connected "over the next few weeks." In a statement, Erik Garr of Google Fiber said, "We have made great progress in building our network, and we begin service customers Tuesday. We are very excited."
The Google Fiber project is said to be under pressure right now. According to The Verge, Google's parent company Alphabet has asked Google Fiber to shift its focus from ultra-fast internet through fiber-optic cables to wireless technology.
Google Fiber, which is now known as Access, has reportedly also been asked to reduce its customer acquisition costs by 90% percent. The unit is allegedly also looking to reduce its headcount to 500, down from 1,000 employees currently.
The unit is facing infrastructure issues as well. Google Fiber has to contest with behemoths such as AT&T to gain access to utility poles. AT&T has sued local authorities in Jefferson Country and Louisville for granting utility poles access to Google Fiber. AT&T is already present in Morrisville and several other communities in the Triangle area with its gigabit fiber service.