Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Telecommunications giant Verizon Communications plans to take over smaller player Frontier Communications in an all-cash deal valued at $20 billion, as Verizon seeks to bolster its fiber footprint to battle its biggest rival, AT&T.
According to Verizon, Frontier operates the “largest pure-play fiber internet” network in the U.S. with 2.2 million fiber subscribers across 25 states.
Over the past four years, Frontier has invested $4.1 billion upgrading and expanding its fiber network, and now generates more than 50% of its revenue from fiber products.
That will add to Verizon’s approximately 7.4 million Fios connections in nine states and Washington, D.C., the telco said. Together, Verizon and Frontier operate fiber networks passing more than 25 million premises in 31 states and D.C., and both companies expect to increase their fiber penetration between now and the deal’s closing.
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