Google has reportedly held talks with recently-listed British telco CityFibre about bringing its US-based ultrafast fixed line network to the UK.
But the discussions broke down because CityFibre was worried it could jeopardise a fibre partnership it has…
Google has reportedly held talks with recently-listed British telco CityFibre about bringing its US-based ultrafast fixed line network to the UK.
But the discussions broke down because CityFibre was worried it could jeopardise a fibre partnership it has with local satellite broadcaster BSkyB and ISP TalkTalk, reported The Daily Telegraph.
Google is still hunting for ways to bring its fibre project to the UK, added the report citing sources.
The Californian internet search giant and CityFibre declined to comment.
Google Fiber is now present in four cities in North America after first launching in Kansas City back in 2012, and the company has been rumoured to be looking to expand the ultrafast services into Europe for some time.
Last month, the group was reported to be mulling plans to invest in a subsea cable that would traverse the Pacific Ocean, connecting its data centres in Oregon and elsewhere with Japan.
With its Q1 financial results detailing US$59.4bn in cash reserves, a UK-launch of Google Fiber has the potential to significantly disrupt a fixed line market that is currently dominated by BT and Virgin Media.
CityFibre was listed in January on UK junior stock market AIM, raising £16.5m (US$27m) to help expand its network across the country.
It currently has operations in more than 50 towns and cities throughout the country, and sees opportunities to expand into at least 100 more.
