Alphabet, the holding company for Google, has named former Time Warner Cable COO Dinesh Jain the new CEO of its Access business. The business group includes Google Fiber and Webpass. Jain is the third person to assume the CEO role in just over a year and a half, following Craig Barratt and, most recently, Greg McCray. McCray resigned in July 2017 after about 5 months on the job; Barrett resigned in October 2016.
The turnover in senior leadership reflects the bumpy ride that Google's broadband services efforts have endured over the past few years. After essentially creating the current gigabit broadband trend that has led to increasing deployments of fiber to the home (FTTH) networks, Google Fiber lost momentum in the face of roll out delays and disappointing customer take rates (see, for example, "Google Fiber to 'pause' expansion; CEO steps down"). Google purchased Webpass in 2016, in large part because of its use of fixed wireless technology to serve multiple dwelling units (see "Google Fiber closes Webpass acquisition"). Alphabet executives openly discussed the use of fixed wireless as a more economical approach than FTTH to broadband services delivery (see "Relax: Google Fiber isn't going all wireless").
Meanwhile, the company has moved away from triple-play services delivery in some recent market entries (see, for example, "Google Fiber to skip TV service in Louisville, San Antonio").
Jain served as Time Warner Cable's COO from January 2014 until Charter's acquisition of the company closed in May 2016 (see "FCC approves Charter/Time Warner Cable merger, Bright House Networks buy").
For related articles, visit the Business Topic Center.
For more information on FTTx technology and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer's Guide.
Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher
Stephen Hardy has covered fiber optics for more than 15 years, and communications and technology for more than 30 years. He is responsible for establishing and executing Lightwave's editorial strategy across its digital magazine, website, newsletters, research and other information products. He has won multiple awards for his writing.
Contact Stephen to discuss:
- Contributing editorial material to the Web site or digital magazine
- The direction of a digital magazine issue, staff-written article, or event
- Lightwave editorial attendance at industry events
- Arranging a visit to Lightwave's offices
- Coverage of announcements
- General questions of an editorial nature