Google plans to buy high-speed Internet provider

Google Fiber plans to buy Webpass, a high-speed, fiber Internet provider that serves a few neighborhoods in five cities.The purchase would be Google Fiber’s first broadband acquisition since the company reorganized as Alphabet and is another sign of Google’s intention to expand its fiber network. Webpass is a San Francisco-based company founded in 2003 the focuses on business and apartment building markets.

A report late last year estimated Google Fiber’s total paid subscriptions between 100,000 and 120,000. Still, Google has recently explored the possibility of bringing fiber service to three new cities: Irvine, CA; Louisville, KY; and San Diego, CA. Google Fiber is currently available in parts of three cities: Kansas City; Austin, TX; and Provo, UT. Google is building networks in some neighborhoods in six other cities: San Antonio, TX; Atlanta, GA; Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, NC; Nashville, TN; and Salt Lake City, UT. Google is also considering projects in Portland, OR; Phoenix, AZ; and San Jose, CA.

Links:

Google Fiber is buying high-speed internet provider Webpass to expand its reach in cities (Recode, June 22, 2016)

Google’s Fiber deployment: “slow and limited” (Speed Matters, Oct. 19, 2015)

Study: Market ‘Too Dismissive’ of Google Fiber (Multichannel.com, Oct. 7, 2015)

Google explores bringing fiber service to three new cities (Speed Matters, Sept. 14, 2015)