Verizon teams up with Google for a billion dollars fiber deal

Two of the biggest companies in the US (and in the world, by that extent) are teaming up.

Verizon has inked a $1 billion fiber deal with Google and the idea is to provide fast, reliable connectivity to the search engine giant's data centers.

That's not the end of the story, but rather just the beginning, as Verizon is about to sign several other deals that are expected to pay off in the near future.

It's official

None other than the Verizon CEO Dan Schulman says so and he's talking about "multiple billions of dollars in revenue":



The company's head highlights that Verizon was "interested" in taking part in the ongoing AI craze. As I'm sure you're well aware, tech giants are building more and more data centers to further develop their artificial intelligence models.

Things are so hot right now that Verizon was remodeling some old copper central offices into "remote data centers", sort of.

Coincidentally or not, Dan Schulman's contract was extended through 2028 (it was meant to end in 2027).

Balanced numbers

As we told you earlier, Verizon reported 193,000 new fixed wireless subscribers to reach 6.2 million total, outpacing its 155,000 new fiber subscribers which totaled 10.9 million.

Fixed wireless growth has now slowed year-over-year for 11 straight quarters. Fiber subscriber additions merely matched last year's pace, even as Verizon works toward a goal of 32 million fiber passings by year-end.

But in mobile, the company achieved its best second-quarter performance in 5 years by adding 184,000 postpaid phone lines. However, despite launching new pricing plans for smaller accounts, Verizon still lost 132,000 total postpaid accounts during the quarter. Analysts believe this contrast indicates the carrier is gaining multi-line accounts while shedding single-line customers.

What about the SpaceX rumor?

Verizon executive Schulman firmly rejected the idea of offering SpaceX a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreement to run mobile services on Verizon's network.

Though analysts consider an MVNO crucial for SpaceX's direct-to-device service to reach high-density areas and gain market share, Verizon is unwilling to invite new competition.

Verizon currently maintains a massive MVNO deal with Comcast and Charter, but Schulman dismissed rumors that SpaceX could bypass restrictions by partnering with or acquiring those cable giants. He emphasized that there is no structural "backdoor" allowing any third party to access their MVNO network.

Regarding home internet, Schulman expressed little concern over SpaceX's fixed broadband competition, noting that suburban density already favors faster terrestrial fixed wireless options. He estimated the total US market for satellite internet at just 6 to 8 million homes, limited strictly to remote rural regions where building ground infrastructure is financially unfeasible.

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