To further expand operations, Google Fiber has today announced that it has planned to acquire Webpass, a high-speed Internet provider for residential and commercial users across United States. The details of the transaction are undisclosed and are expected to be finalized by this summer.
San Francisco based Webpass was founded in 2003, with the goal to delivering seamless internet services to its customers and they’ve now been doing it for over 13 years.
Google Fiber is currently operational in five U.S cities, but plans to expand to as much as 20 cities by the end of the year. By joining forces with Webpass, the company will help accelerate deployment of superfast internet services to the customers in the five major markets it operates in. The current operational cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, San Diego, Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Chicago, and Boston will thus be added to Google Fiber’s arsenal.
This is a new chapter for Webpass, whose high-speed 1 Gigabit ethernet lines and point to point wireless systems will help Fiber reach unexplored geographies. Charles Barr, President, Webpass Inc. in the blogpost adds that,
I started this company 13 years ago to deliver a simple, high quality Internet connection to as many people as possible. Joining Google Fiber will be a great development for our users because the companies share the same vision of the future and commitment to the customer. Google Fiber’s resources will enable Webpass to grow faster and reach many more customers than we could as a standalone company.
This move from Google shows that it is now relying on third-party organizations and existing infrastructure to expand its high-speed Internet network. You can take San Francisco for example, where the Fiber network has been expanded leveraging the city’s existing network. Instead of unnecessary expenditure on laying high-speed fiber cables, Google is now making acquisitions and using the underlying network to expand its services into new territories.
