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Five years after announcing we’d bring Google Fiber to Kansas City, our vision remains: to connect more people to superfast and abundant Internet. At that time, Gigabit residential speeds were unheard of, built-from-the-ground-up Fiberhood designs and builds were as yet unproven, and a great customer experience simply didn’t exist. Since then, we have reshaped the landscape — these innovations are becoming more commonplace (which we all can agree is great for everyone, particularly for consumers!).


And thanks to the hard work of everyone on the Access team, our business is solid: our subscriber base and revenue are growing quickly, and we expect that growth to continue. I am extremely proud of what we’ve built together in five short years.



Now, just as any competitive business must, we have to continue not only to grow, but also stay ahead of the curve — pushing the boundaries of technology, business, and policy — to remain a leader in delivering superfast Internet. We have refined our plan going forward to achieve these objectives. It entails us making changes to focus our business and product strategy. Importantly, the plan enhances our focus on new technology and deployment methods to make superfast Internet more abundant than it is today.



These changes to our business and technology will have some immediate implications. Some of our efforts will remain unchanged, but others will be impacted. In terms of our existing footprint, in the cities where we’ve launched or are under construction, our work will continue. For most of our “potential Fiber cities” — those where we’ve been in exploratory discussions — we’re going to pause our operations and offices while we refine our approaches. We’re ever grateful to these cities for their ongoing partnership and patience, and we’re confident we’ll have an opportunity to resume our partnership discussions once we’ve advanced our technologies and solutions. In this handful of cities that are still in an exploratory stage, and in certain related areas of our supporting operations, we’ll be reducing our employee base.



As for me personally, it’s been quite a journey over the past few years, taking a broad-based set of projects and initiatives and growing a focused business that is on a strong trajectory. And I’ve decided this is the right juncture to step aside from my CEO role. Larry has asked me to continue as an advisor, so I’ll still be around.



I am humbled by our growth and progress across Access today, and I’m so grateful to have been part of such an extraordinary bet. And as we continue this bet, I remain confident that the future will hold a much more connected society and abundant access for all. Let’s keep doing our part to make it so!


Posted by Craig Barratt, SVP, Alphabet and CEO of Access

Back in June Google Fiber entered into an agreement to acquire Webpass. Today we’re happy to announce that we’ve closed the transaction for Webpass, Inc., which is now officially part of the Google Fiber family. (We should mention that a smaller affiliate, Webpass Telecommunications, LLC, is expected to close later this year, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.)


Webpass set out to change the landscape for Internet providers back in 2003. Their mission today is the same: deliver a simple, high quality Internet connection to as many people as possible. At Google Fiber we share that same goal, and together we can grow faster — and reach more people— than ever before.


It’s been impressive to watch Webpass evolve from a boot-strapped startup to an established category leader with tens of thousands of happy customers in five major metros from San Francisco to Boston.

Current Webpass markets in the U.S.

This growth is due to their fast, reliable Internet service, available at an affordable price with no hidden fees, no contracts and an install experience that puts the customer first. In fact, Webpass customers have been known to choose the building they live in based on Webpass’ service map. Providing an excellent customer service experience is another philosophy we share with Webpass.



In addition, Webpass is known for their successful track record lighting up new buildings with super fast Internet service very quickly — sometimes within a month or less once building access agreements are in place. This speed of deployment is possible in part because Webpass manages its own network, which also has the benefit of higher service availability, automatic upgrades for service that gets better over time, and bandwidths of up to 1 gigabit per second.


Of course, at Google Fiber we’re particularly excited about Webpass’ application of point-to-point wireless deployment methodology. As we’ve said, our strategy going forward will be a hybrid approach with wireless playing an integral part. Webpass has proven that point-to-point wireless is a reliable way to connect more people to high-speed Internet in a densely populated environment, by setting up wireless transmission links between buildings. Residents simply plug their device or router into the data jack Webpass installs in their unit, and they’re good to go, browsing with speeds reaching up to a Gig.


Going forward, Webpass will continue to grow and scale their business with point-to-point wireless technology, including expanding into new cities. And for our part, Google Fiber will continue to build out our portfolio of wireless and fiber technologies, to bring super fast Internet to more people, faster. In the meantime, there will be no changes for current Webpass or Google Fiber customers, who will continue to get the same great services they love.