AT&T takes swipe at Google Fiber’s buildout woes, touts its community outreach approach

AT&T isn’t wasting any time taking a swipe at Google Fiber’s move to halt further fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) builds due to network installation costs and local ordinances that that make fiber builds a challenging prospect.

Google Fiber recently announced that it plans to halt the builds while CEO Craig Barratt will step down. What’s more, Google Fiber also plans to lay off workers in this division, but did not reveal when or how many employees will be let go. While AT&T did not directly call out Google Fiber, its recent blog post, which called out the number of markets Google Fiber serves, clearly had the service in mind. “What some of our competitors are just starting to realize (one after 6 years and only 8 metros) is that this endeavor is challenging,” said Eric Boyer, SVP of Wired and Wireless products and services for AT&T, in a blog post. “Connecting customers at scale and investing capital today in the future of connectivity is a big deal.” Boyer added that in order to build fiber into more locations, AT&T conducts community outreach in areas where it wants to build out GigaPower, rather than asking cities and towns to realign existing laws regarding utility pole attachments. “Expanding the availability of faster wired and wireless speeds begins with a conversation with cities and customers – not a checklist dictating terms or by pushing cities to enact lopsided legislation,” Boyer said.