Jain has had over 20 years of experience working at telecoms. Before TWC, he had multiple leading roles at the American cable company Insight and the European provider NTL. Alphabet is picking someone who's intimately familiar with the telco world and a rock of stability, which it probably wants given the abrupt departure of former CEO Greg McCray.

The Access unit could probably use the help. Access has been on shaky ground ever since Alphabet changed Google Fiber's direction to pause actual fiber rollouts and focus more on wireless internet. This doesn't mean you'll witness a renaissance, but you might see Access regroup and push forward after a year of uncertainty.