Google Fiber: Louisville leaders 'taken by surprise' by departure

Louisville officials were "taken by surprise" when they learned last week Google Fiber would be pulling its high-speed fiber network service out of the city.

As recently as January, Louisville Metro officials had been assured by the local Google Fiber team that the technology company wouldn't leave, said Grace Simrall, the city's chief of innovation and technology. 

"We found out Wednesday night and tried our very best to convince them to stay, but unfortunately they had already decided," Simrall said Monday.

Background:As Google Fiber pulls the plug, Louisville is the jilted suitor

City officials knew there had been some difficulties with Google Fiber's new construction technique, which consisted of burying fiber optic cable in much shallower trenches than used in most other cities, she said. The approach was being tested in Louisville and offered some challenges that Simrall said the city was closely monitoring.

Google Fiber officials wrote in a goodbye blog post on Thursday that they encountered "technical challenges in Louisville that have been disruptive to residents and caused service issues for our customers." 

"We're not living up to the high standards we set for ourselves, or the standards we've demonstrated in other Google Fiber cities," it said.

Simrall stressed that though Louisville leaders were "disappointed" in the decision, the city has benefited from the experience. "Google Fiber was only the beginning. It wasn't the end," she said. 

Competing internet service providers, like AT&T and Spectrum, made investments in the market that they may not otherwise have, Simrall said. And her team has been compiling a list of other internet service providers who could be good fits in the Louisville market.

She declined to name them Monday, but said there were "multiples" who could expand in the market or move into it.

Her team is also meeting with Google Fiber officials this week to discuss logistics and the plan for their exit. It isn't clear whether the installed fiber or infrastructure is reusable, she said. 

"This newer construction technique does place some limitations on the viability of the fiber, so we really need to deeply understand how they constructed, where they constructed, what challenges they encountered ... before we can make a value judgment on the viability and value of the assets," Simrall said.

Louisville leaders are talking to Google Fiber team about exactly where the construction took place. City policy and the franchise agreement were written to ensure Google Fiber was responsible for any damage to city roads, Simrall said. 

In Google Fiber's statement last week, the company said the lessons it learned in Louisville "made us better in our other Google Fiber cities." 

But city officials never intended for Louisville to be used as a guinea pig or an experiment, Simrall said, adding that she hoped Google would clarify in future statements that it never intended for residents to feel used.

"We did it with the best of intentions, meaning that if this succeeded, we would leapfrog other communities," she said. "It is challenging, when you're trying a new construction technique at the scale we were trying, but nonetheless, we approached it with the best of intentions."

Mayor Greg Fischer and economic development advocates eagerly embraced Google Fiber, touting it as a key part of a $5.4 million proposal to expand the city's ultra-fast internet access under a larger public-private partnership called KentuckyWired. 

Two years ago, Fischer had heralded Google Fiber's arrival as a sign of the city's strides in innovation. 

More:Google Fiber is leaving Louisville. What about the cable in our roads?

"Google Fiber's investment puts Louisville in an exclusive club of cities, and it's a win for all of us because we're focused not on keeping up with changes in the 21st century, but leaping ahead," Fischer said at the time.

Google Fiber’s initiative included Newburg and Portland, two lower-income neighborhoods where fewer residents have internet connections, and was cast as a step toward bridging the so-called digital divide.

The Metro Council got on board, passing a "One Touch, Make Ready" ordinance in 2016 to give internet service providers the leeway to install and move existing companies' equipment on utility poles to boost their networks.

AT&T sued in federal court to stop the ordinance, but lost after a judge ruled in August 2017 that the city had a right to control its public rights of way. Louisville spent more than $400,000 defending the AT&T lawsuit as well as a second action, according to the Jefferson County attorneys office.

Simrall said Monday that Google Fiber received no financial incentives from Louisville Metro Government.

Darcy Costello: 502-582-4834; dcostello@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @dctello. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/darcyc.