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Google Fiber's Wireless Internet Service Is Leaving Boston (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the bad-connection dept.

Webpass, the wireless home broadband company that Google Fiber acquired in 2016, is exiting the Boston market. The Verge received a reader tip on the situation and a quick look around revealed that Boston is no longer listed as a current Webpass market on the company's website. From the report: "As with any acquisition, we've spent some time evaluating the Webpass business. As a result of our analysis, we've made the decision to wind down Webpass operations in Boston," an Access spokesperson said by email. "We'll work with customers and partners to minimize disruption, and there will be no immediate impacts to their Webpass service. We continue to see strong subscriber response across the rest of the Webpass portfolio, including successful launches in Denver and Seattle in 2017."

Before this move, Boston was one of 8 cities served by Webpass, which delivers up-to-gigabit internet speeds for residential and commercial buildings by using point to point wireless. That number has dropped to 7, and old Google search results for Webpass service in Massachusetts now redirect to the main homepage. Webpass internet service is available exclusively in apartment units and condo buildings. It originally came to Boston in 2015 and the company has (or at least had) an office in the city.

6 of 63 comments (clear)

  1. Gotta wonder about this move by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Gotta wonder if they got a big fat paycheck from the local cable/telco to pull this BS. I can't imagine how this makes economic sense. Once you sink the money for the hardware, if you aren't profitable, you increase your prices until you are...

    That or they negotiated another, bigger city where the local cable/telco monopoly would drop their legal challenges to Google fiber in exchange for this...

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    If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
    1. Re:Gotta wonder about this move by ksw_92 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      [THIS finally made me create an account after many years of lurking]
      I doubt anyone paid off Google since they have enough cash to buy a telco.

      No, this is the problem with so-called "fast innovators". Infrastructure is a long con, played out over 30 years, and companies like Google can't see that far out. Like Google Fiber, which has stalled outright, Webpass requires significant infrastructure outlay for growth and that infrastructure requires significant expense in man-hours to get permits, space leased and palms greased before the first foot of cable can be unspooled at a site.

      ILECs and franchised operators have 40+ years (100+ in some cases) dealing with government entities, property owners and suppliers and have built institutional organs that know how to deal with those animals. It's actually not too hard to build communications infrastructure anymore and the telco resistance to muni-chartered systems is proof of that. It's not the cost of the hardware and installation that's the barrier to entry any more, it's the jurisdictional processes (ROW access, easements, etc. etc.) that kill infrastructure innovation. Google, with all its brainy puzzle-solvers and with all its peeking into billions of lives, can't seem to crack the nut that is your local cigar-chomping county commissioner and the planning board he sits on. It's like they're scared to get into political knife-fights. Too bad; that's the way infrastructure in the US has always been built forever. You think the Interstate system doesn't have a little graft and blackmail on its ledger?

    2. Re:Gotta wonder about this move by Obfuscant · · Score: 3, Interesting

      and that infrastructure requires significant expense in man-hours to get permits, space leased and palms greased before the first foot of cable can be unspooled at a site.

      All it takes is the building owner giving them an access agreement and sign a contract for service. It can't get much easier than that. For fewer than 30 units every unit gets service and the owner gets one bill -- pretty cheap for accounting.

      it's the jurisdictional processes (ROW access, easements, etc. etc.)

      There is no ROW or easement issue. The owner of the building says "ok". What rights-of-way do you think are involved?

      can't seem to crack the nut that is your local cigar-chomping county commissioner and the planning board he sits on.

      They were already in business in Boston. It seems they had "cracked" the planning board and county commissioner, even with what little authority they had to stop Google from installing hardware in a private building.

      What I wonder is why nobody is flaming google for their stupid excuse for not providing service to single-family homes. "It wouldn't be economical for the consumer". What? It's $60/month for gigabit internet service. That's cheap. Why wouldn't it be economical for someone to have that service? Hidden fees and taxes? What? Compared to Comcast 100Mbps it's absolutely marvelous pricing.

  2. Google is now worthless by WindBourne · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Seriously, this is one company that is following right in the footsteps of yahoo, IBM, HP, etc. They had TOP notch ppl and now have a fucking worthless POS CEO that is busy gutting them. Within 2 years, it will be apparent that Google has not only lost the top edge, but will not have ANY chance of regaining it.
    In fact, as I pointed out before, the VC should be going inside of Google and gutting them by funding good ideas. There are still ppl there with good ideas that are leaving now, and should be used on start-ups instead.

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    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    1. Re:Google is now worthless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      >MS never had a hit on a software product on day 1

      Apparently, you were either in a coma, or too young to remember the worldwide frenzy of the Windows 95 launch.

  3. Webpass: A broken business model? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The business model of Webpass isn't new or novel. Sign a deal (read: kickbacks) with an apartment complex (MDU) and become the "preferred" provider for the captives, er, residents. Same model that Direcpath, Gigamonster, and numerous MDU-only ISPs use. Aside from reducing the amount of fiber laid with line-of-sight radio, Webpass isn't changing the fundamentals of the business model.

    Competition showed up not long after Webpass set up shop. Starry has a number of MDUs online, selling service at price points below Webpass. Verizon finally started installing FiOS in Boston proper, and you can bet they're also prioritizing the sweet sweet profits that MDUs provide. Even AT&T is getting into the game, leveraging their DirecTV MDU deals to deploy G.fast via leased fiber outside of their main service areas.

    The one advantage that Webpass had was that it could move with the speed and gusto of Google. With ample funding, they could light up the city quickly and really ignite competition from incumbent providers. Too bad that Ruthless Ruth cut off capex. Now, the entire Google Fiber enterprise is slowly suffocating from lack of capital.

    Lighting up MDUs with leased fiber isn't a good long-term strategy for Google Fiber for the same reason it's great in the short term: low capex. Just about anyone can pay Zayo or Level3 for a leased trunk line to an apartment building located on a major street. That doesn't move the needle on broadband penetration. What made Google Fiber so novel was they brought a major jump in broadband speed to single-family homes, when everyone else was still milking their aging copper infrastructure. Google Fiber's biggest opportunities lie in the places where noone in their right mind would sell broadband. Unfortunately, that requires massive capex and vision, which clearly isn't coming anytime soon.