Verizon has received all the approvals needed for its $9.6 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications, an Internet service provider with approximately 3.3 million broadband customers in 25 states. Verizon said it expected to complete the merger on January 20.
Final approval came from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which approved the deal yesterday in a 5-0 vote. Months of negotiations resulted in commitments designed to replace DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies, including deploying more fiber and wireless infrastructure, providing $20 per month internet service to low-income people for the next decade, and other commitments that Verizon had to eliminate due to demands from the Trump administration.
“The approval follows extensive public participation, testimony from many parties, and negotiated agreements with consumer advocates and labor organizations,” the CPUC said yesterday.
Verizon struck a deal to merge with Frontier in September 2024, agreeing to pay $9.6 billion in cash and assume more than $10 billion of debt held by Frontier. The all-cash transaction is valued at $20 billion, including debt. Verizon said yesterday that the merged company will have “an expanded reach of approximately 30 million fiber passes across 31 states and Washington, DC.”
Verizon will expand network, maintain low-income plans
Verizon’s interest in its home Internet business has waxed and waned over the years, but the company remains largely committed to fiber and fixed wireless home Internet these days. Part of the deal involves Verizon buying back an old part of its network that it sold to Frontier about 10 years ago. In 2016, Frontier purchased Verizon’s FiOS and DSL operations in Florida, California, and Texas.
At yesterday’s CPUC meeting, Commissioner John Reynolds described Verizon’s commitments. Verizon will deploy fiber to 75,000 new locations within five years, he said, with priority given to census blocks with incomes at or below 90 percent of the county average. For wireless service, Verizon needs to deploy 250 new cell sites with 5G and fixed wireless capacity in areas eligible for state broadband grants and in areas with high fire hazards, he said.
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