Google Fiber to cut jobs and halt expansion of US internet service

Ambitious - and expensive - high-speed internet program will stop plans to expand to new cities as business reportedly under pressure to cut costs

Google's parent company is halting operations and laying off staff in a number of cities where it once hoped to bring high-speed internet access by installing new fiber-optic networks.

The company also announced that Craig Barratt, a veteran tech executive who led the ambitious - and expensive - Google Fiber program, is stepping down as CEO of Access, the division of Google's parent company, Alphabet, that operates the five-year-old program.