Google Pulls Louisville Fiber
“It ain’t easy” but Google Fiber is leaving Louisville, Google blogged Thursday. Google won’t charge for the next two months' service before turning off the network April 15, it said. “We’ll work with our customers and partners to minimize disruption,…
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and we’re committed to doing right by the community.” Google placed fiber in shallow trenches in Louisville but “encountered challenges that have been disruptive to residents and caused service issues,” said the company, citing an August WDRB.com article about exposed fiber lines. “We would need to essentially rebuild our entire network in Louisville to provide the great service that Google Fiber is known for, and that's just not the right business decision.” Google Fiber said it continues to add customers in other cities. Google Fiber’s entrance added competition that led to other ISPs enhancing service, a Louisville spokesperson said in a statement: “AT&T, Spectrum, and others have stepped up and increased investment in Louisville.” AT&T and Charter Communications (Spectrum) had filed lawsuits against Louisville over a one-touch, make-ready law that Google Fiber supported. A federal court in 2017 rejected AT&T’s lawsuit against the policy (see 1708210045). Last month, the Louisville Metro Council floated proposed changes to the OTMR law that were expected to resolve the Charter suit (see 1810310045).