Google Fiber’s wireless plans take shape with purchase of a gigabit ISP

Webpass, the acquisition target, offers both fiber and point-to-point wireless.

Jon Brodkin – Jun 23, 2016 9:30 am | 60

Webpass radios on a San Francisco building. Credit: Webpass

Google Fiber has signed a deal to acquire Webpass, a high-speed wireless ISP, Webpass announced yesterday.

“By joining forces, we can accelerate the deployment of superfast Internet connections for customers across the US,” Webpass founder Charles Barr wrote. “Webpass will remain focused on rapid deployment of high-speed Internet connections for residential and commercial buildings, primarily using point-to-point wireless.”

Google Fiber’s Twitter account confirmed the deal, which is expected to close this summer pending regulatory approval. A Google Fiber spokesperson told Ars that the deal extends the company’s reach, particularly to apartment and multi-unit buildings. But since the deal hasn’t closed yet, it’s too early to offer more detail, the company said.

We wrote about Webpass a year ago; at the time, it was providing wireless home Internet with 500Mbps upload and download speeds for $55 a month. The 13-year-old company was planning to install fiber-to-the-premises in some locations to complement its wireless network.

Today, Webpass fiber is available in parts of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Diego. But wireless remains its primary mode of delivery, with service in the previously mentioned cities as well as Miami, Chicago, and Boston.

It isn’t available just anywhere, as Webpass focuses primarily on multi-unit residential buildings and businesses. Prices are now $60 a month (or a discounted $550 a year) for speeds ranging from 100Mbps to 1Gbps. Webpass charges the same price regardless of speed, which depends on the location of the building within the network. Webpass claims its wireless latency is the “same as fiber.”

Barr wrote that Webpass will be able to grow faster and reach more customers under Google Fiber than it would as a standalone company.

“Today, Webpass has tens of thousands of customers across 5 major markets in the US, and we hope to reach many more in our next chapter with Google Fiber,” he wrote. “Webpass will continue to grow its service in current operational cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, San Diego, Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Chicago, and Boston, adding to Google Fiber’s growing list of operational cities.”

Google Fiber offers fiber-to-the-home service in Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas; Nashville, Tennessee; and Provo, Utah and is considering expansion to another 18 metro areas. In April, A Google Fiber executive revealed that the Alphabet-owned company is planning to provide fixed wireless Internet to homes where it wouldn’t make financial sense to build fiber.