Google Fiber's CEO is stepping down and the company is halting plans to offer service in several cities (GOOG, GOOGL)

George Frey/Reuters

Craig Barratt, the head of Google's broadband access company, is stepping down and the company is freezing plans to roll out high-speed broadband service to multiple cities, the company announced on Tuesday.

The move marks a significant setback for one of the company's most ambitious projects.

Google started offering Gigabit speed internet access to Kansas City residents in 2010, axpanding the service to a handful of other cities aftewards.

Google said it will continue to offer the service in cities where it has launched, but it has pulled the plug on big plans to expand across the country.

"For most of our “potential Fiber cities” — those where we’ve been in exploratory discussions — we’re going to pause our operations and offices while we refine our approaches,"  Barratt said in a blog post announcing the news

The changes will mean some layoffs, he said.

"In this handful of cities that are still in an exploratory stage, and in certain related areas of our supporting operations, we’ll be reducing our employee base."