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Rats Gnaw Broadband Dreams, Rescue Bid Scuppered
26 Jan
Summary
- A £300 million debt-laden broadband provider's rescue failed due to rat damage fears.
- Community Fibre withdrew a bid citing high costs of repairing rodent-chewed cables.
- G.Network's road-digging installation method made repairs prohibitively expensive.
A potential rescue for G.Network, a broadband provider with £300 million in debt, was abandoned because of concerns that its fiber-optic cables had been chewed by rats. The company had invested heavily in installing its own network across London, aiming to compete with established providers.
Community Fibre, another broadband company, had considered acquiring G.Network but ultimately withdrew its bid. This decision was largely influenced by the estimated high costs associated with repairing potential rodent damage to the network's infrastructure. This issue of rodent damage is not new, affecting other providers as well.
G.Network's chosen method of digging up roads to lay its cables, rather than utilizing existing underground ducts, made the prospect of extensive repairs incredibly costly. Such repairs would necessitate re-digging roads, incurring substantial expenses and public inconvenience.
