gFiber is stepping in to rescue Ting Fiber’s darkish fiber community lease in Colorado Springs, a transfer that can present some aid for financially troubled Ting and permit gFiber to increase its presence within the state.
Ting Fiber will proceed to serve broadband clients within the metropolis till the transaction is wrapped up. The switch is predicted to shut on March 31, 2027.
The switch settlement enters the image after Tucows, Ting Fiber’s dad or mum firm, initiated a assessment of strategic alternate options for Ting Fiber again in late 2025 because the subsidiary continued to soak up losses. In June, Tucows disclosed there was “substantial doubt” relating to Ting Fiber’s potential to satisfy its monetary obligations inside one yr until it secured extra financing. In 2024, Tucows underwent a significant price restructuring that included a 42% layoff at Ting Fiber and a 17% layoff of Tucows’ complete workforce.
Ting Fiber famous on this FAQ that it is “made the powerful determination to concentrate on funding in different Ting markets.” Ting Fiber operates in components of California, Idaho, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia.
Upon closing, Ting will successfully flip over its remaining lease with Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) to gFiber (previously Google Fiber). gFiber can be substituted for Ting because the community’s “tenant.”
Ting Fiber’s involvement in Colorado Springs traces again to a multi-phase plan undertaken by CSU to deliver open-access fiber to about 200,000 areas in Colorado Springs. In August 2023, CSU tapped Ting Fiber to function preliminary anchor tenant on the XGS-PON-based community.
CSU’s community presently passes about 75,000 properties, and the utility expects the total construct to wrap “inside a number of months” of its authentic end-of-2028 goal, CSU Chief Monetary Officer Tristan Gearhart mentioned, in keeping with the Colorado Springs Gazette.
On the finish of Q2 2026, Ting’s remaining combination cost obligations tied to the unique 30-year lease had been roughly $322.8 million, Ting dad or mum firm Tucows mentioned on this October 22 10-Okay submitting. Beneath the unique 30-year settlement with CSU, the utility was projected to obtain about $670 million.
No rapid change for Ting Fiber clients
Ting Fiber’s 2,000-plus clients in Colorado Springs will proceed to obtain 2-Gig broadband speeds (presently priced at $89 per 30 days) till they cancel. Ting Fiber additionally presents a house broadband/cellular bundle beginning at $99 per 30 days.
gFiber is predicted to deliver its personal service portfolio to the market. gFiber expects to begin taking orders in Colorado Springs by the top of 2026 for installations beginning in early 2027, Ting Fiber defined within the FAQ. gFiber has stood up a web site for Colorado Springs residents to be alerted when gFiber is obtainable.
Partnering with a utility on an open-access mannequin is not new territory for gFiber – it runs a related association with a utility in Huntsville, Alabama. Louis Lipner, gFiber’s head of strategic partnerships, mentioned the corporate has been happy with the Huntsville mission and has wished to enter Colorado Springs since not less than 2022, the Gazette reported.
gFiber’s increasing footprint in Colorado
The Colorado Springs lease switch will broaden gFiber’s in Colorado. It would increase on its rollouts in areas similar to Highlands Ranch/Douglas County, Wheat Ridge, Westminster, Lakewood and Denver (in Denver, gFiber makes use of its Webpass mounted wi-fi entry platform). gFiber additionally has plans underway to construct in different Colorado markets similar to Golden, Broomfield County and Adams County.
gFiber is increasing in different methods. The Colorado Springs transaction is happening amid a pending merger of gFiber and Astound Broadband that can end in an operator that passes greater than 7.11 million areas. Anticipated to shut later this yr, Stonepeak will maintain majority possession of the mixed firm, with Alphabet – gFiber’s dad or mum – retaining a big minority stake. The mixed firm will function below the gFiber model and be led by gFiber’s present government workforce.
