Vodafone buys Ihug

One of my ISPs, Vodafone, has just purchased my other ISP, Ihug, for $41 million.

Juha has the news, as one expects.

This is a very very smart purchase for Vodafone. It gives them the No 3 ISP and it also gives them a company which provides fixed line calling. The advantage to Ihug is an owner with some very deep pockets to invest.

So a very good deal for both companies. Potentially not quite so good for the market as more and more ISPs are getting purchased by larger ISPs and/or telcos.

But Ihug and Vodafone both have good records of innovation, and for now at least Ihug will remain a seperate company with its own CEO which is good.

Ihug have been my primary ISP for just over ten years since I discovered the Net in 1996. Hopefully they will be around in another ten.