Google Fiber leaving Louisville

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Google will pull its super-fast internet service out of Louisville, the tech giant announced Thursday.

Google Fiber launched in Louisville in 2017, but various obstacles made it difficult to continue doing business in the Derby City.

“In Louisville, we’ve encountered challenges that have been disruptive to residents and caused service issues for our customers,” Google wrote in a blog post Thursday.

The service won’t be turned off until April 15. Google said this doesn’t impact its Fiber presence in other U.S. cities.

“We’re not living up to the high standards we set for ourselves, or the standards we’ve demonstrated in other Fiber cities,” the blog post said."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 for us."

Jean Porter, the Director of Communications for Mayor Fischer’s office, released this statement about the move:

“From the time Louisville Metro began working with Google Fiber, we’ve believed that adding this service as a choice for residents would lead other providers to offer better services, faster speeds and lower costs. Competition is good for a market. AT&T, Spectrum, and others have stepped up and increased investment in Louisville. We look forward to working with them and others to provide residents with choices for low-cost, gigabit-speed internet access. We are also excited by our expansion of internet network capacity through the LFIT middle mile fiber initiative and 5G wireless coverage.”

Greater Louisville Inc. also released a statement about Google’s decision:

“We were disappointed to learn that Google is making this business decision. GLI has been a strong advocate for investments in high-speed broadband services to support growth across Metro Louisville. More than ever, our businesses need the latest Internet services to remain competitive. Fortunately, we have strong partners in this market like AT&T and Spectrum that continue to invest in improving networks and services in Greater Louisville.“