Latest from Next TV in Webpass

Dinesh Jain Named CEO of Alphabet’s Access Unit

Jeff Baumgartner — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 23:58:00 +0000

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has tapped a cable industry vet to run Access, the unit that operates the Google Fiber and Webpass businesses.

Dinesh (Dinni) Jain, most recently COO of Time Warner Cable, started as CEO of Access today, the company announced in this blog post.

Jain takes on that role almost seven months after Gregory McCray, the former CEO of Access, stepped down after just five months on the job. McCray had come on board to replace Craig Barratt, who was named CEO of Barefoot Networks about a year ago.

As the head of Access, Jain will lead the way from the company’s headquarters in California.

Jain, an exec who is also late of what used to be Insight Communications (acquired by TWC in 2012) and NTL (now part of Virgin Media/Liberty Global) in Europe, is also coming on board following a recent string of tweaks to Alphabet’s strategy for Access.

In the fall of 2016, Google Fiber hit the pause button on its ambitious expansion plans so it could concentrate in its current deployments and pursue less expensive wireless alternatives following the acquisition of Webpass.

RELATED: Capex at Alphabet's 'Other Bets' Continues to Fall

Last week, Access confirmed that Webpass was winding down operations in Boston following a review of its business there, while continuing on in markets such as Denver, Seattle, Chicago, Miami, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Diego.

Cathy Fogler, another vet from the cable industry, joined Access last year to head up sales and marketing.

Google’s Webpass Backing Out of Boston

Jeff Baumgartner — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 16:52:00 +0000

Webpass, the wireless broadband company acquired by Google Fiber in the fall of 2016, confirmed that it will shut down operations in Boston following a review of Webpass’s business in that market.

“As with any acquisition, we’ve spent some time evaluating the Webpass business,” a spokesperson with Alphabet’s Access unit said in a statement (Alphabet is Google’s parent company). “As a result of our analysis, we’ve made the decision to wind down Webpass operations in Boston. 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.”

RELATED: Google Fiber Wraps Webpass Buy

Google didn’t elaborate further on the decision, first reported by The Verge, but it’s believed that Webpass’s performance and response in Boston wasn’t as strong as it’s been in new launch cities such as Denver and Seattle.

Webpass’s wind-down in Boston is expected to take several months, so customers there shouldn’t see an impact to their service right away.

Though Webpass has found some rough sledding in Boston, another wireless broadband entrant there, Starry, said recently that it’s had some success penetrating parts of the city with a platform that relies on millimeter wave spectrum. Starry, which passes more than 240,000 homes in the market with an uncapped 200 Mbps service starting at $50 per month, says it’s been particularly appealing to cord-cutters and consumers who have never taken a pay TV service.

RELATED: Starry Connects with Cord Cutters (subscription required)

Starry and Webpass have been dueling with a trio of incumbent broadband providers in Boston that includes Comcast, Verizon and RCN.

The decision to wind down operations appears to be a small a setback for Google’s plans involving Webpass, which has been viewed as a more cost-effective alternative for broadband as Google Fiber curtailed expansion plans for its FTTP rollouts.

However, at this point, it appears that there’s no change for Webpass in its other deployment cities, which, in addition to Denver and Seattle, includes parts of Chicago, Miami, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Diego.

In October 2017, Google confirmed last week that Charles Barr, founder of Webpass, had left the company, but didn’t elaborate on the reason for his departure.

Capex for Alphabet’s ‘Other Bets’ Falls Off a Cliff

Jeff Baumgartner — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 21:52:00 +0000

Capital expenditures for “Other Bets,” the unit of Alphabet that contains Google Fiber, fell significantly in Q3 2017 – to $77 million, from $324 million in the year-ago period.

The big change in spending follows a decision by the company to hit the pause button on Google Fiber’s original, ambitious expansion plans, and as it puts more emphasis on less expensive wireless broadband alternatives.

That shift in strategy also followed Google Fiber’s acquisition of Webpass, a wireless broadband company, in the fall of 2016. Google confirmed last week that Charles Barr, founder of Webpass, had left the company, but didn’t elaborate on the reason for his departure.

“Webpass has a great model for serving customers with a variety of access technologies. They've grown their customer base over the past year since Fiber acquired them, and we're excited to continue that growth,” a Google spokesperson said.

Other Bets, which also includes Nest, posted Q3 revenues of $302 million, up from $197 million a year earlier, and an operating loss of $812 million, narrowed from $861 million.

Jan Dawson, founder and chief analyst at Jackdaw Research, summed up the capex situation at Other Bets in this tweet:

In case you’re wondering how Alphabet feels about Google Fiber at this point… pic.twitter.com/iYcAlhuBot

— Jan Dawson (@jandawson) October 26, 2017

Google Fiber’s Webpass Sets Seattle Service Launch

Jeff Baumgartner — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 17:55:00 +0000

Webpass, the wireless broadband company acquired by Google Fiber in 2016, will soon launch a gigabit service in Seattle, starting with a downtown condo unit.

Webpass will launch at Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue, a 40-story building at the city’s Pike Place Market, according to local reports, including one from The Seattle Times. Webpass will reportedly start with a 1-Gbps symmetrical service that sells for $60 per month.

Update: In an announcement, Webpass said the data service will be marketed without contract requirements or data caps, noting that it will use point-to-point wireless radios that work in conjunction with the building’s existing Ethernet network.

RELATED: Google Fiber Wraps Webpass Buy

In Seattle, Webpass will compete with incumbents such as Comcast and CenturyLink. Comcast recently launched a 1-Gig (downstream) service in Seattle that uses DOCSIS 3.1 for its HFC network, and also offers Gigabit Pro, a pricier symmetrical 2-Gbps service that uses fiber-to-the-premises technology.

The coming launch in Seattle follows the February debut of Webpass service in Denver. Webpass also offers service in parts of Boston; Miami; Chicago; and San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland, Emeryville and Berkeley, Calif.

Google Fiber has been emphasizing the use of lower-cost wireless-based broadband deployments as it concentrates on existing FTTP deployment markets and after it paused a plan to expand into more cities.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, recently announced Gregory McCray as CEO of its Access division, which includes Google Fiber.

Charles Barr, CEO and founder of Webpass, told Fortune, “We operate very autonomously and very independently” from Google Fiber.

Google Fiber’s Webpass Debuts in Denver

Jeff Baumgartner — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 19:25:00 +0000

Webpass, the wireless broadband unit of Google Fiber, said it has launched in Denver and identified the “first apartment community” to receive service, which delivers up to 1 Gbps for $60 per month.

Google Fiber, which will compete in the market with incumbents that include Comcast and CenturyLink, confirmed that the Larimer Place condos at 16th street and Larimer Street in downtown Denver, is the first community to getting access to the Webpass service in the Mile High City. Webpass noted that it is currently building out its local data center stack that will allow installation of point-to-point wireless radios to provide service to customers in the area.

RELATED: Google Fiber Wraps Webpass Buy

Webpass also announced that it has hired Roger Fitch as the GM who will head up the company’s Denver-area business. Fitch is also late of MultiTek Global, McAfee, StorageTek, OneSecure and Global Crossing, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Webpass also offers service in parts of Boston; Miami; Chicago; and San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland, Emeryville, and Berkeley, Calif.

Ars Technica reports that a new job listing indicates that Webpass is also targeting Seattle.

The launch in the Denver area amplifies Google Fiber’s new emphasis on wireless-based broadband as it concentrates on existing FTTP deployment markets and puts plans to expand into some markets on the backburner.

Earlier this month, the company announced Gregory McCray as CEO of Alphabet’s Access division, which includes Google Fiber.

Google Fiber Rolls Into Raleigh

Jeff Baumgartner — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 14:53:00 +0000

Google Fiber said it has begun to sign-up residential and business customers in North Hills, the mid-town area of Raleigh, N.C.

Google Fiber said the debut there, which comes five months after Google Fiber’s launch in Morrisville, also comes amid the grand opening of its new Raleigh Fiber Space facility in the 518 West Jones building in Glenwood South, Erik Garr, Google Fiber’s southeast regional manager, announced via this blog post.

In Raleigh, Google Fiber’s residential plans include Fiber 100 (symmetrical 100 Mbps) for $50 per month (or starting at $140 per month with a TV bundle), and Fiber 1000 (1-Gig symmetrical) for $70 per month (TV bundles start at $160). Google Fiber is also selling three services tailored for businesses.

Google Fiber competes in the market with incumbents that include Charter Communications and AT&T, which is also offering a fiber-based 1-Gig service in select areas.

Garr also noted that Google Fiber is preparing to serve its first “Gigabit Communities” property at The Oaks in the coming months, referring to a program that brings free 1-Gig to select public and low-income housing properties.

Google Fiber has also begun to highlight markets supported by Webpass, the wireless broadband provider that the company acquired in October 2016.

RELATED: Google Fiber Wraps Webpass Buy

“Since we announced that Webpass is part of the Google Fiber family last year, we’ve been working together in the cities both Webpass and Google Fiber share: Chicago, San Diego and San Francisco,” Dennis Kish, president of Google Fiber, announced. “Webpass has been offering superfast Internet service — up to a gigabit per second — in these cities for some time, and has the full support of Google Fiber to continue doing so going forward.”

Webpass-enabled Google Fiber markets are now represented on the company’s deployment map with a green-colored pin. Others Webpass markets include Oakland, Miami, and Boston.

Google Fiber’s greater focus on Webpass markets follows a decision last year to pause expansion plans as it focused on current deployments and continues to pursue less expensive wireless options.

Google Fiber is part of Alphabet’s “Other Bets,” a unit focused on longer-term, so-called “moonshot” projects. For all of 2016, that unit generated revenues of $809 million, up 82%, driven primary by Nest, Google Fiber and Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences), alongside an operating loss of $3.6 billion.

Google Fiber Wraps Webpass Buy

Jeff Baumgartner — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 18:51:00 +0000

Google Fiber said it has closed its acquisition of Webpass, a point-to-point wireless broadband service provider that serves portions of San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, Miami, Chicago and Boston.

Google, which announced the deal in June, noted that its acquisition of a smaller affiliate, Webpass Telecommunications LLC, is expected to close later this year.

RELATED: Google Touts Potential for Wireless Broadband

“Going forward, Webpass will continue to grow and scale their business with point-to-point wireless technology, including expanding into new cities,” Dennis Kish, president of Google Fiber, said Monday in this blog post. “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.”

He reiterated that Google Fiber’s “strategy going forward will be a hybrid approach with wireless playing an integral part,” noting that point-to-point wireless has shown to be reliable way to deliver high-speed services in high density environments.

Google has asked the FCC for permission to move ahead with plans to trial wireless broadband in as many as 24 U.S. locations, including New York City, Chicago and Atlanta.

Of recent note on the wired side, Google Fiber has opened up the sign-up process in the North Carolina “Triangle” area, starting in Morrisville.