After several years of dormancy – and a lot of concern about the failure of the business – Google Optical fiber reappeared in the telecommunications dialogue this year, and plans to expand its services in some states. Google Optical announced this week that wireless technology will play a role in this effort.
Tom Brownlow, senior network operation manager of Google Optical, and Blake Drager, technical director of Google Optical’s Webpass business, said: “As we continue to expand our footprint across the country, we are integrating this wireless approach to provide high-speed services in more areas, which is also meaningful in all our existing cities and our new expansion areas.”

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, acquired Webpass in 2016, which was the peak period driven by Google Optical Fiber. At that time, many people in the industry expected that the company would use Webpass’s fixed wireless Internet technology to expand the coverage of its Google optical services. However, given that Google’s management decided to curtail the company’s optical fiber construction efforts shortly after acquiring Webpass, this did not really work. The withdrawal of the company’s optical fiber coincided with the departure of Craig Barratt, CEO of Google Access, and several other executives in the company’s “Access” department.
But Alphabet never gave up Google Optical Fiber or Webpass. In fact, officials of the company said in 2019 that Webpass and its wireless products will still be a key part of the business.
In fact, both Brownlow and Drager believe that wireless technology can be comparable to optical fiber. They think: “The only obvious difference between optical fiber and millimeter wave technology is that one uses optical fiber cables to transmit the Internet at a speed close to the speed of light, and the other uses air.”
Google Optical recently announced that it is negotiating with city leaders in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Idaho to extend optical fiber services to various communities. Cities on Google’s new fiber list recently include Omaha, Mesa, Nebraska, Arizona, and Lexwood, Colorado. Brownlow and Drager did not specify which expansion markets might include wireless products.
Google Optical’s emphasis on wireless technology came at an interesting time. For example, Starry uses the same strategy as Webpass, which uses the millimeter wave spectrum to send the Internet connection to the receiver on the top of the apartment building; Then, individual customers subscribe to the service through the wires in the building. But the starry sky is obviously in trouble. Earlier this year, the company stopped network construction, fired half of its employees, and is currently fighting against possible delisting on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
However, federal and state regulators are emphasizing optical fiber rather than wireless in an effort to bridge the digital divide. For example, optical fiber technology has been a priority of the U.S. government’s large-scale broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program.
This caused some wireless companies to panic. For example, some wireless industry associations sent letters to national telecommunications officials urging them to consider wireless technology in bead spending.
Steve Berry of the Association of Competitive Operators said: “The reality is that wireless is usually the fastest, most effective and most cost-effective way to bring connectivity to rural and non urban areas.”