Google Fiber has been slowly and steadily building its network of high-speed Internet in the county, as the service was recently brought to cities like Dallas and Miami.
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Webpass was founded in 2003, and mainly offers high-speed ethernet-based gigabit internet connections to businesses, in five major U.S. markets, namely the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, Chicago, Boston, and Miami.
“Google Fiber’s resources will enable Webpass to grow faster and reach many more customers than we could as a standalone company”, said Charles Barr, President at Webpass. Subject to standard closing conditions, the deal is expected to be wrapped up this summer.
Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google Fiber has agreed to acquire Internet service provider Webpass, in a plan that should result in expansion of Google Fiber from the five cities that it now provides its services in. Plans of introducing Google Fiber to more and more cities across the United States are certainly in the pipeline, and the acquisition of an ISP of Webpass’s expertise will only help further that cause.
Google signals the expansion of its Fiber network with its newest acquisition, Webpass, an internet service provider offering gigabit connection in five major U.S. markets. The current subscribers are exactly the target market Google Fiber has sought to expand its service. The move will give a much needed boost to the company’s Fiber business, particularly in urban markets. Webpass has been around for 13 years supplying high-end customers with connections starting at an impressive (for the US) 100Mbps and going up to gigabit speeds.
Webpass in San Francisco owns and operates its Ethernet network, thus removing its dependence on phone and cable companies. Webpass serves around 20000 customers across these markets.
In its efforts to expand its Fiber Internet network across different cities, the biggest hurdle that Google is faced with is establishing a foothold in residential buildings.
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Earlier this month, executive chairman Eric Schmidt told shareholders in the annual general meeting that Google is planning to beam ultra high-speed Internet to homes through new cheaper wireless technology. We believe that partnering up with a local company will help Google penetrate its services into residential buildings.
