Fiber mergers rage on with Bell Canada buying Ziply Fiber for $7 billion

Bell Canada announced it was acquiring Ziply Fiber for $3.65 billion in cash plus the assumption of debt, resulting in a transaction value of about $7 billion. This deal follows Verizon’s recent announcement that it’s acquiring Frontier for $20 billion. The announcement between Bell Canada and Ziply would make Bell the third largest fiber internet services provider in North America, after AT&T and Verizon. Currently, AT&T passes 28 million locations with fiber, and Verizon passes 17.8 million. After close of the Ziply deal, Bell Canada will have about 9 million fiber locations, combining its 7.7 million locations in Canada with Ziply’s 1.3 million in the U.S. Meanwhile, both American companies are pressing the pedal to the metal with ambitious fiber plans. Verizon is in the process of trying to buy Frontier, and if that deal goes through, Verizon says it will pass 30 million locations.