Charter Mocks Google For Abandoning Customers

Google has been struggling to maintain their momentum in their efforts to break into home internet service. As they are struggling hard, their competitors are sensing that it is the time to attack. Charter Communications, which is the second best internet service provider in the nation after Comcast, has started sharing newspaper advertisements in the city of Kansas, where they are on head-to-head competition with the Google Fiber internet service.

“Abandoned by Google,” begins the ad, in colorful letters resembling the logo of Google. “Kansas City residents have Fiber accounts canceled.” The advertisement then chronologically recounts how Google took orders right from 2011 for the home internet services, but stopped expanding their services and even canceled some of the orders from the customers in the city of Kansas this year. Some of the cancelled orders were as old as two years.

Interestingly, Google replied that they are still active in the Kansas City. “Google Fiber loves Kansas City and we’re there to stay,” the company said, and highlighted their recent neighborhood expansions to Overland Park and Raymore. “We’ve been grateful to be part of the community since 2011, and for the opportunity to provide superfast Internet to residents.”

Charter Communications acquired the local Kansas City users after they bought Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable last year. TWC was very infamous in the Kansas City area for poor customer service, so Charter made quick moves with their best internet service offering to rebrand their acquired markets in the Midwest region, which includes Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Kansas City. This move was focused to reduce cord cutting and customer defections at a time when Google was not willing to respond to customer queries.

Google Fiber was started in 2010 and aimed to sign up millions of users for their fast internet service. However, the economics and numbers never added up and Google had to stop their aspirations for Google Fiber service, while they are thinking to shift to a wireless delivered home internet service. There were rumors that the Google Fiber effort, which is now a part of the Google Access Unit under the holding company, Alphabet, might be sold or spun off.

More bad incidents happened for Google last month when many customers who were waiting for the fiber internet service got cancelation notices. Google said that they are still expanding to the neighborhoods like Overland Park and Raymore.