Google Fiber wird an eine Private-Equity-Firma verkauft und mit dem Kabelunternehmen fusioniert | GFiber und Astound fusionieren mit Alphabet und verkaufen Mehrheitsanteile an Stonepeak
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/03/google-fiber-will-be-sold-to-private-equity-firm-and-merge-with-cable-company/
47 Kommentare
Details of note:
>Alphabet and Astound owner Stonepeak announced “an agreement to combine GFiber with Astound Broadband, creating a leading independent fiber provider,” with the merged company to be “majority owned by Stonepeak, an investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets.”
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>The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, with an expected closing date in Q4 of this year. The sale price was not disclosed. The deal will help GFiber take “a major step toward its goal of operational and financial independence” and obtain the “external capital and strategic focus needed to accelerate its next phase of growth,” the announcement said.
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>It’s unclear whether the combined firm will be called GFiber, Astound, or something else. “The combined business will be led by the existing GFiber executive team, utilizing their expertise in high-speed fiber innovation to manage the combined network footprint,” the announcement said. “The combination of GFiber’s high-growth metropolitan networks with Astound’s established infrastructure, team and capabilities creates a highly complementary, national network platform.”
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>Astound is already the product of industry consolidation via a series of private equity deals that combined Wave Broadband, RCN, and Grande Communications. A research note from the New Street analyst firm said GFiber offers service at 2.8 million locations in 15 states, while Astound’s service area has 4.45 million locations in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Most of Astound’s network is cable broadband, but it has 892,014 fiber locations and 44,548 copper locations.
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>“Put together, the two companies pass ~7.1 [million] locations in 26 states,” the research note said. “The two companies overlap in only three counties in Texas (109k locations). Texas and Illinois will have the largest footprint for the combined entity. Cable and Fiber will cover an almost equal share of locations for the combined company.”
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>The combined GFiber/Astound company will face competition in most of its territory from at least one cable or fiber/copper provider. That includes AT&T at 53 percent of locations, Comcast at 46 percent of locations, Charter at 43 percent of locations, Verizon at 22 percent of locations, and Lumen (CenturyLink) at 11 percent.
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>New Street said there are unanswered questions, such as whether the combined company will continue to expand into areas served by existing cable and fiber operators, and whether it will upgrade its own cable footprint with fiber.
It’s not too surprising to see Google jettison this division. It will be interesting to see whether the new entity will be able to spark enough much-needed competition with the larger incumbents.
Well there goes any future for Google Fiber. Hello higher prices and data caps.
Enshittification is imminent
lol those commercials about not changing the price in 10 years are about to be outdated real quick. Just a daily reminder that private equity ruins everything.
What a surprise haha.
Astound bought our local internet provider (good price, good performance) and turned it into garbage.
I’m so glad I stuck with AT&T lmao
On the plus side, at least they didn’t just shut the whole thing down.
Interesting they are laying Google fiber in my neighborhood as we speak
Does this count as another killedbygoogle.com or do we have to wait
So glad I have municipal fiber
Prices go up
Huberstub sold to homeless man down by the river and set to merge with Merglebop and Klippenfeld with Borderline Personality Disorder majority stake to Puddletits.
So, no need to replace my current provider.
whelp at least i won’t feel bad anymore about moving out of my gfiber home, they are about to shit themselves
There goes Google Fiber being a viable alternative.
Sad, but I’m not surprised. Pretty much every cool thing Google does gets shelved, sold off, or enshittified.
RIP, Google Fiber. I wish I’d had a chance to use you, but now I’m glad I’ll never to experience what you’ll become.
Only a few certainties in life, death, taxes, and Google
Killing off well used and much loved products and services.
Add it to the graveyard!
Another product google abandons
God fucking damnit. I just switched to Google Fiber, and now some rich fuckers are going to ruin it just to boost their already criminally high net worth.
r/enshittification
Good things happen whenever a private equity company purchases a billion-dollar widget.
Bummed I never got to use it, but got a good fiber alternative in my area that’s been good so far in the month I’ve had em (they’re called Ziply?), so at least I get enjoy the greatness of fiber. It’s honestly sad it’s impact on the isp industry wasn’t as great as we’d all hoped, but it’s definitely brought about the rise of smaller local fiber players, which is always good. I’m worried though I’d this will be the start of the consolidation of them all now though under old ISPs
RIP google fiber. I love how the consumer is just guaranteed to be fucked over with no end in sight. What an awesome time to be alive!
Welp, no longer jealous of those with Google Fiber
Perfect timing, just switched from Quantum to GFiber last week cause I didn’t want to deal with AT&T have acquired Quantum.
No! I just switched
Where are all the folks who said GFiber was the end of the cable industry?
I been on waitlist for like 20 years for google fiber… finally got a local company who came out of no where and asked my HOA if they could run fiber to my neighborhood , now getting 4 gig up and down for $80 a month no caps locked in for life …. it’s private equity too … happy I am
Just yesterday I decided to switch from Astound to Google 😒
I don’t know why anyone would invest in any of their tech, they abandon everything they buy or build.
Oh wow I haven’t heard of Google Fiber in years. I remember wanting it to roll out in the U.K. like 15 years ago. It was such a hot thing back then
Private equity are probably the two worst combination of words after pedophile president. They auck so much. The modern poison.
Edit: more words
I’ve had Google Fiber for almost 10 years. There are alternatives for 1Gb service in my neighborhood so I’ll hop if the service goes to shit or the price is hiked unreasonably.
Sucks for the GFiber employees who will be losing the Google perks and now become layoff targets of a private equity firm.
FUCK PRIVATE EQUITY this was the only good thing remaining living in this shit hole state
Remember when google had all these moonshot projects and that they were going to be a different company and use their corporate profits for interesting things? I hate what the money men have done to our future.
Astound is genuinely one of the shittiest internet companies in existence
Because of course private equity wants a piece of the cable monopoly pie
When RCN became Astound my internet service doubled in price and I started finding hidden „fees“ every single year. I had to call them every January to try and get the fees removed until I finally found an alternative provider. Private equity ruins everything it touches.
Feel bad for all you rubes who have been jumping on the great deals Google Fibre have been offering… I’m only superior to you because they never brought it out to me 😛
Wow so after all this, cable snatches it up and private equity ruins something again?
I remember they got a shit ton of money from the government to install fiber networks. Now that it’s done, private equity firm going to reap all the benefits?
Everything sucks and I hate all of it.
Basically the only good thing about having these enormous monopolies controlling critical aspects of life & society is that it leaves fewer companies we need to nationalize so it can finally start feeling like we live in the 21st century.
Stopped reading at „private equity.“